The Long Climb
by thejoker122
Summary: Matt Carter has had one dream since he was a little kid, and that was to become a wrestler. Throughout his life, he has faced numerous obstacles, lost his family, and was close to giving up on his dream. Now, he is finally getting his shot in TNA. Will he be able to find love and will he avoid becoming like his father on the long climb up the ladder? He'll try his hardest for both.
1. Chapter 1

Matt Dixon: 6'' 215 pounds. Grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Father kicked him out of the house when he was 14. Mother died because of cancer, and his two brothers were killed in a car accident when he was 13. He doesn't talk about his past that much

* * *

This was the day I have been dreaming about for the past eight years. Eight long years of training, of facing some of the best talent on the indy circuit. I was finally going to debut on TNA Impact. I have been busting my ass for the past eight years, perfecting my craft. I was mainly a powerhouse, but I wasn't afraid of doing high flying moves. As I arrived at the arena, I heard Chris talking with his girlfriend Jamie Szantyr AKA Velvet Sky. Guess now is as good of a time as any to introduce myself. The name is Matt Dixon(ring name), or Matt Carter. I was born in Detroit, and I'm an avid Red Wing, Lion, Tiger, and Piston fan. I lost contact with my father after I went to live with a friend. That is as much as I'll say about my family. I was trained by William Regal.

I walked towards the locker room so I could get ready for the match. I found out that it was Kenny King that I was going to face from a stage hand, and I started to grin. This was going to start off the 2nd hour of Impact this week, and it was going to be one hell of a match. My ring attire was pretty simple: Black wrestling shorts, black boots, and a pair of white gloves. Nothing fancy, just standard equipment for me. Now I gotta make an impact and show just how good I really am.

King went out first, followed by me. I heard a lot of cheers for me, which meant that they heard of my work. They were going to be in for a treat.

They started off with a collar and elbow tie up, which Matt turned into a side headlock. Kenny started elbowing Matt in the ribs to loosen his hold on him, then he whipped Matt across the ring and hit him with a clothesline, causing Matt to hit the mat hard. Kenny picked Matt up, and hit him with a suplex. Matt got up, and dodged a spinning heel kick attempt, forcing Kenny to turn around. Matt started laying into him with right hands, which forced him up against the ropes. Matt whipped him across the ring and hit him with a standing dropkick when he got close enough. Matt climbed on the top turnbuckle and waited for Jessie to get up so he could hit him with an axe handle. He countered it with a well timed dropkick to Matt's midsection. They both struggled to get up, but by the count of 7 they were up. They started to trade punches. Kenny came running towards Matt to hit him with a knee to the face, but Matt hit him with a big boot. Matt then started working on his legs by stomping on them. He countered Matt's attempt at a single leg Boston crab by kicking him off. He got up, and as soon as he was up, Matt ran towards him to hit him with the spear. He moved out of the way, and Matt went through the ropes and landed outside the ring. He ran to the other side, and when Matt got up he came sprinting towards the ropes to hit Matt with a suicide dive. Matt was hit into the announce table, and as Kenny got up he came and started to knife edge chop Matt. The fans started a 'WOO' chant as he continued to knife edge chop Matt. After he was done, he went into the ring to break the count, which was up to 8. He came back out, and they started trading blows. He hit Matt with the side of his knee in Matt's gut, and threw him back in the ring. Matt struggled to get up, and when he did get up, he walked straight into a clothesline by Kenny. He was setting Matt up for his finisher, which when he got up, barely managed to dodge it. He stumbled back towards Matt, and I started unloading with a series of punches and kicks that backed him up to the ropes. Matt whipped him across the ring, and as he was coming back Matt hit him with a spine buster. Matt picked Kenny up and whipped him into the corner. He set Jessie up on the top turnbuckle, and hit him with a superplex. Kenny was both down until the count of 6, when he managed to get back up, Matt was set up for another spear which connected. Matt went for the cover.

"1"...

"2"...

"3"

I had won the match. I didn't think I could win, but I was wrong. This is just the start of my climb to the top of the mountain.

After the match, I went backstage and got greeted by some of the wrestlers from TNA Impact. They started to praise the match, and all that good stuff until Sting came up and gave us some advice.

"You have a bright future if you keep on performing at that level. Although, you gotta listen to the fans as well. If they don't get behind you as a face or hate your guts as a heel then you'll feel it. They won't give a damn about your matches. Every time you step into that ring, you need to make the fans respect you." I just nodded in agreement, surprised that the Icon was willing to give me advice. I then went back to talking to the others. I looked over my right shoulder, and I saw a blonde woman walking towards us. She had beautiful blue eyes, and well, I really can't describe without using the following sentence: she was the perfect image of an angel. Chris and Vel seemed to notice this, and decided to 'help' me out.

"Matt, the woman's name is Taryn. She is a nice girl who just got out of a bad relationship" Chris told me. I just looked at them with a questioning look on my face. This time, Vel told me the story.

"She was working at WWE for a few years, and during that time fell in love with an abusive douchebag. She got fired because he told the CEO that she was insulting the others. She hasn't trusted any guy since then." I just looked over at Chris, who was giving me a sad smile. He knew that my previous girlfriend cheated on me with some of my other 'friends' and was the same way as Taryn's ex. Every time I took a step forward, she knocked me back ten. I was blinded by love, and didn't realize just how badly she was screwing me over.

I was going to do my best to make her trust me, even if it means doing some stupid shit. As the old saying goes, you don't lose in love. You lose by holding back.

"Matt, we're gonna go to the hotel bar after the show, you up for it?" Chris asked me. I nodded in agreement, hoping that Taryn would be there as well.

I was sitting at the booth with Chris, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, and TJ Perkins AKA Suicide. Since I was the new guy, they decided to play twenty questions with me. Most of them were the basic embarrassing shit, and past matches. It was finally AJ's turn, and I couldn't wait to hear it.

"Matt, you have any family in the crowd tonight?" He asked me. Over the years, I managed to keep a poker face on whenever my family was brought up.

"No. My father and I lost touch after my mom and two brothers died. I lived with an Uncle since I was fourteen years old" I replied. Chris knew I was lying, but thankfully he didn't let it slip. After the twenty questions were done, we saw a couple of the knockouts walk in. Taryn was one of them, along with Velvet. The others went over to talk to them, while I just stayed at the booth drinking my glass of water. I was straight edge, and that was because my father was an alcoholic. It made him abusive, which made me angry when I thought about it.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" A voice broke my train of thought. I looked up to see Taryn standing there.

"Yeah, it's alright" I replied. She gave me a small smile, and nodded her thanks to me. After we introduced ourselves to each other, we sat in a comfortable silence, until a waiter came up with a drink for Taryn. He said it was courtesy of a secret admirer. She looked absolutely scared.

"You okay?" I asked her. She gave me a quick look, but turned her attention to the table just as quick.

"Yeah. I'll be fine" she lied. I knew that she was thinking about her ex. Knowing the short version of the story made me hate the guy.

"Okay. If you say you're okay, I'll take your word for it" I replied. She looked up at me, and her big blue eyes made me want to kill the dumbass who abused this angel. Then again, the eyes also made me want to tell her that I knew how she was feeling. I let out a small sigh

"I know this is going to come out weird, but I've been in your position before. I had a girlfriend who used to verbally abuse me. Seems weird, but at that time I was down on my luck and believed her. I left her after I found out she was fucking some of my so-called 'friends.'" I told her. She just gave me a small smile. My heart skipped a beat, and my breath caught in my throat. Taryn looked cute when she was smiling. After that was done, me and Taryn spent the rest of the night just getting to know each other.

* * *

I was attacked from behind during my match against Jessie Godderz on Impact by Kenny King. They both started to beat me down when Chris Sabin came rushing out to help me. They both got out of the ring quickly, and TNA GM Hulk Hogan made the following match for the following week.

"Thanks for saving my ass out there Chris" I said to him. He just gave me a smirk, and told me not to worry about. Next week is going to be fun.

**Well, I finally managed to get this story off the ground, and I need to point out a few things that WILL eventually come into play during this story. #1) the whole father situation will cause some more of Matt's past to come out. Going to let you guys figure out who I'm gonna open up to. #2) is Taryn's ex. He will be brought in, and I already have a feud in mind for him. It's gonna be an interesting challenge for me to get the feud perfect. #3) will be the actual matches. Those will be in 3rd person, while the rest is written in 1st person. I've never really been good with writing 3rd person stories, so I'll take this time to apologize for matches that may be horribly written. I will be improving my craft during the story, so hopefully it'll get better. That's about it, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	2. Chapter 2

It was 2:30 in the morning, and I was about to drift off to sleep. After I lost contact with my dad, I never got more than three hours of sleep. There are a hundred different reasons for that, but I'm not gonna bore you with them. Today though, someone had the bright idea to call me at three in the fucking morning.

"Hello" I said groggily. Most would have gone off on the person who called them, but I wasn't. Knowing my luck, it was just a prank caller.

"Yo Matt. Long time no talk" the person said to me. I couldn't pinpoint it, but the voice sounded familiar.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Patrick Martin."

"Damn. It really has been a long time Alex. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I saw your debut against Kenny King and I gotta say it was pretty damn good."

"Thanks bro. You planning on returning to TNA at all?"

"I've thought about it, but I'll let you know on Thursday."

"Works for me. Hope you do though. It would be great seeing the Motor City Machine Guns back together."

"If we do, we may need a third member. I gotta go though, so I'll talk to you later bro."

"Night." Me and Alex were pretty close. Hell, me, Chris, and Alex were pretty much brothers. We were always there for each other and never let a girl come between us. I fell asleep, not even registering the words I just heard from Alex.

* * *

I had just arrived backstage at the the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex in Indiana, Pennsylvania and heard that our tag match was changed to a six man tag match, where we would have a surprise partner. As much as I bugged Dixie and Hulk to tell me who it was, they didn't budge. Not even Chris knew who our partner was. Our match was the main event, which meant we needed to blow every other match out of the water. As much as I want to say it's easy, it's not. We were lucky they didn't have an AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle match though. Trying to top that is impossible. They could go at twenty five percent each, but it would still be the best damn match on the card.

"You ready to kick some ass tonight?" Chris asked me. I gave im a nod, and we went out too a loud reception. In the ring already was Kenny King, Jessie Godderz, and Joey Ryan. This wasn't going to be an easy match.

"Introducing first, from Detroit, Michigan. Matt Dixon." I came out to the song Lose Yourself by Eminem, which was greeted with a loud reaction.

"Introducing next, from Detroit, Michigan. Chris Sabin." Chris came out to his Hail Sabin theme, which was greeted with a nice reaction.

"And making his TNA return," that was when the song Motor city started playing. When we looked up the ramp, we all saw Alex Shelley walking towards us. The roof was blown off of the United Center as the crowd started a 'welcome back' chant for Alex. Me and Chris were just grinning at him. The gang was back together.

* * *

Matt started it off with Kenny King, and they went for a collar and elbow tie up, which Kenny turned into a side headlock. Matt started to elbow him in the gut, but was met with a knee to the gut. Kenny backed up to the ropes and hit Matt with a knee to the face. Kenny then went to the outside and measured Matt up for a springboard drop kick. It hit Matt with a lot of force, and Kenny just started to taunt Matt. Matt got up and hit Kenny with a clothesline to the back of his head. He then started to stomp on Kenny's back, and went to the Kenny stood up, Matt launched himself back into the ring, hitting Kenny with a hurricanrana. Matt then backed up and waited for Kenny to stand up. When he did, Matt hit him with a spinning heel kick. Matt then dragged Kenny over and tagged in Chris. Matt and Chris waited until Kenny was got to his knees before letting loose a fury of kicks, which ended with a double drop kick to Kenny's chest.

Chris waited until Kenny stood up before laying into him with a series of punches, and he quickly followed it up with whipping Kenny into the corner and hitting him with a monkey flip. Chris then climbed the turnbuckle and waited for Kenny to get to his feet, before hitting him with a flying cross body. They both got to their feet, and Kenny dodged a spinning heel kick from Chris before hitting him with a clothesline. Kenny managed to drag Chris to his corner before tagging in Joey Ryan.

Joey started to stomp on Chris's leg before going for a springboard moonsault. Chris rolled out of the way, and went to tag in Alex. Kenny and Jessie went over and knocked Alex and Matt off of the apron before going outside to brawl with them. Joey was focusing on Chris's leg, and he went for a single leg Boston crab. Chris managed to kick him off though, and as he started to stand, Joey hit him with a chop block on the right knee. Joey dragged Chris to his corner, and made the tag to Jessie. Jessie was using the same strategy as Joey, but he missed a dropkick to his knee. When he popped straight up, he and Chris ran straight at each other and hit a double clothesline. Chris crawled over to Alex and made the tag, and Jessie made the tag to Joey. Matt and Kenny were still brawling on the outside.

Alex ran straight at Joey and hit him with two quick clotheslines, and then whipped him into the corner. Alex ran and hit Joey with a running drop kick. Alex then hit him with a snapmare takedown, and started kicking him in the back. The fans were cheering with every kick. Alex waited until Joey was up to hit him with standing drop kick. He then started to measure Joey up for the Sliced Bread #2, which he hit.

"1...2..." Jessie managed to break up the count at 2. Alex and Chris started to double team him, which ended with the double super-kick by them, which sent Jessie to the outside. Chris told Matt to get in the ring. After Joey stood up, he turned into a double super-kick that spun him around, right into the spear by Matt. Alex went for the pin. "1...2...3." The match was over.

* * *

Me, Alex, and Chris started to celebrate our victory. Alex grabbed a mic, and started talking.

"Man it's great to be back in TNA. The fans have been amazing, and it's great to be teaming with my old friends. And, consider this the reforming of the Motor City Machine Guns." The crowd blew the roof off the place for the return of the Motor City Machine Guns. After we got backstage, we were met by Dixie, Hulk, and Velvet. Chris and Vel went off to leave us with Dixie and Hulk, who wanted to talk to me and Shelley about going after the tag titles. They were currently held by Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco of the Aces&8s. We agreed to it, and found out that we were going to go after them at Destination X.

"Let's go find Chris and tell him the good news" I said to Alex, who just gave me a nod. We went looking for them, only to find them in the parking lot with a panicked Taryn. I rushed over to find out what was wrong.

"Taryn, don't worry. He's not THAT dumb" Velvet told her. I looked at Chris, who told me everything. The douchebag who thought it would be fun to abuse an angel had sent her a text stating that he couldn't wait to see her again. I bent down so I could look at her face. Her eyes were red, and still had tears in them. I gave her a small smile.

"Taryn, you don't need to worry. You got some of the best protecters in the world" I told her, and it was true. She really did.

"You don't know what he's capable of" she told me. I looked her straight in the eyes when I replied.

You're right. I don't know what he's capable of, but I do know this: it doesn't matter to me. If he tries to lay a finger on you, I'm going to break his arm. He tries it with a toe, his leg gets broke. I'll be there to protect you. That is the truth." She gave me a surprised look, before giving me a big hug. Chris and Velvet started teasing us by asking what our wedding song is going to be, and Alex just gave me a thumbs up. This was an amazing feeling, just holding Taryn in my arms. I could get use to this.

**Well, I was going to wait till Thursday to post this, but seeing as it was finished earlier than expected, I'll post it now. Just so you guys do know, I do have another return planned, and this is all before Slammiversary. That will probably take up a few chapters, and Destination X will be the first gold Matt goes after. I can't wait to write Destination X, as it's going to be pretty big for the story. Also, I decided to have them do one show on Thursday, then tape the second show on Saturday. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	3. Chapter 3

I arrived at the BancorpSouth Arena, ready for a fight. I wanted to make a statement against arguably the greatest wrestler of all time. In all honesty, I would be surprised if I even came close to getting a win against him. As I was getting ready, I heard the Aces&8s music hit. I went over to the TV to see who they were going to call out, only to have my eyes widen in shock. In the ring was Taryn, and Matt Morgan was out there. I ran towards the ring, hearing the footsteps of some of the others. They weren't close to me, so I didn't give a damn.

"I'm issuing an open challenge to anyone in the back. If you think you can beat me, then get your ass out here. Otherwise, I'll decide to take my anger out on her" Morgan said. The crowd was booing him without mercy. Lose Yourself hit, and the place erupted. I ran to the ring, and stood protectively in front of Taryn. Morgan just smirked at me.

"You really think you can beat me?" He asked me. I just grabbed the mic from his hand.

"I don't think, I KNOW I can take your punk ass." Taryn was just staring at me with wide eyes. This is going to be a tough challenge for me. Taryn got out of the ring, and the ref started the match.

* * *

Dixon and Morgan circled around each other. Dixon wanted to do a test of strength, but Morgan kicked him in the gut. Morgan then hit him with a couple of forearms to the kidneys. Morgan hit Dixon with a clothesline to the back of the head. With Dixon down, Morgan took the time to taunt the fans, which was met with boos. Dixon managed to get back up, and started to lay in some kicks to Morgan's back. Morgan turned around and hit Dixon with a punch to the face. Morgan whipped Dixon across the ring and hit him with a large clothesline that turned Dixon inside-out. Morgan then set up for the Carbon Footprint, but Taryn hooked his leg. The ref told Taryn to go to the back. Morgan turned around, and Dixon hit him with a flurry of punches to the midsection. Dixon then whipped Morgan into the opposite corner, and ran full speed at him. Morgan moved out of the way and connected with the Carbon Footprint. Morgan went for the pin. "1...2..." Dixon kicked out. Morgan started to argue with the ref, giving Dixon enough time to stand up. Morgan turned around and charged at Dixon, who moved out of the way. Morgan hit the corner at full speed and was stunned. Dixon ran and hit him with a clothesline, followed up with another one. Dixon then hit him with a spinning heel kick, and measured Morgan up for the spear. Morgan moved out of the way, and Dixon ran shoulder first into the steel ring post. After turning around, Dixon was hit with yet another Carbon Footprint. Morgan wanted to inflict more pain on Dixon, so he set up for another Carbon Footprint. Dixon struggled to get up, but when he did, he turned and saw Morgan coming straight at him. He moved out of Morgan's way, which caused the ref to be hit with the Carbon Footprint. Dixon managed to hit a spear on Morgan and went for the cover. Kenny King broke up the pin and started to beat Dixon down. Morgan joined in on the beat down. Alex Shelley came down to even the odds, and forced Kenny to flee the ring. Dixon started to fight back, and hit Morgan with a knee to the gut to create some space. When Morgan turned back to Dixon, he was met with a super-kick. Dixon climbed the top turnbuckle, and when Morgan realized where Dixon was, hit the top rope. Morgan then walked over to Dixon, and put his hand around his throat. The ref started to come to in time to see Morgan hit the choke-slam from the turnbuckle. 'Holy shit' chants broke out, and Morgan went for the cover. "1...2...3. Ring the bell" The match was over, and Dixon needed to be helped to the back.

* * *

After I got backstage, Kenny King assaulted me using a lead pipe. Shelley and Sabin chased him off and pretty much carried me to the trainer's office. They were worried that I would have a concussion after the match and assault.

"Well, the only major problem I can see is your ribs. They are badly bruised, and they may break if not fully healed. I recommend not wrestling until the week before Slammiversary" the trainer said to me. I just gave him a smile that was pretty much said there was no chance in hell of me missing a couple of weeks unless my ribs were broken.

"If they aren't broken, then I'm not gonna miss any time" I told him. He just sighed and didn't argue, which was good news for me. Honestly, I was thinking up of ways to get back at King. I left the trainer's office, and saw King taking on Alex. I started to smirk, hoping for the ref to be knocked out. When he was, I ran out to the ring and began to assault King. I used the Tiger Bomb power-bomb on King through a table on the outside and left. Shelley won the match, but Velvet and Taryn were glaring at me.

"What?" I asked them innocently.

"What the hell was that? You never attacked someone from behind in any of the other companies you were in" Velvet pointed out. I let out a small sigh, and got prepared to tell them the story when Sabin did it for me.

"After Matt was helped to the back, King attacked him with a lead pipe. By the way Matt, what damage was done to you because of that match and assault?"

"Nothing major, just some bruised ribs. I won't miss any time either" I told him. He just nodded, and Shelley was just shaking his head. We all decided to go back to the hotel and meet up at the bar later. I was going to be wearing a white dress shirt that had long sleeves, and my favorite pair of dress pants. Right before I left, I looked at myself in my own personal mirror, and was surprised at my own features. My green eyes were actually radiant again(according to Velvet, she said that my bitch of an ex sucked the radiance out of them), and my light brown hair wasn't the buzz-cut I kept it in anymore. It grew about two inches, and it looked like I had some hair. Not much, but some. Then I looked at the beard I was growing. It was starting to look like the beard my father had that day long ago. It was neatly trimmed to the point of it just being considered short. I decided to leave before I went down Nightmare lane.

After I arrived at the bar, I saw Taryn sitting by herself. She was dressed in a light blue dress, with matching earrings and a pearl necklace. I may sound like a broken record, but she seriously looked like an angel to me. I walked over to her, and saw that she was deep in thought. I cleared my throat, and she looked up at me in surprise, but her eyes told a different story.

"Hey" she managed weakly. I gave her a small, reassuring smile.

"Hey. Is anyone sitting here?" I asked, pointing to the seat opposite of her.

"No, you can sit there if you want though."

"Thanks. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, why?"

"You just seem... scared I guess."

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself over." I really wanted to find out why she was scared, but decided against it. As odd as it may seem, I was actually terrified of losing Taryn as a friend. She has really opened my eyes to a lot of different things, and I was glad for that. The DJ in the bar started to play the song Beautiful by Mariah Carey and Miguel. I looked over at Taryn, and saw that she was smiling.

"Care to dance?" I asked her. She looked up at me, and said sure. We danced until it was about midnight, and the last song we danced to was Mirrors by Justin Timberlake. I offered to walk her back to her room, when her phone buzzed she saw that it was a text from her ex and grew paranoid.

"Taryn, you're gonna stay in my room tonight. If this bastard is as close as he says he is, then I want him to go through me before getting to you" I told her, truthfully. She gave me a surprised look that was quickly turned to relief. When we got back to my hotel room, I gave her a pair of sweats and an old tee shirt to sleep in. She simply smiled at me and said thanks.

I heard Taryn slightly whimpering in her sleep at two, so I went over to wake her up.

"Taryn, wake up. You're having a bad dream. You need to wake up" I said to her, while shaking her shoulders. She shot straight up, and quickly looked around the room until her eyes landed on me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. If you want me to leave-" she started till I put my index finger to her lips. She looked at me, and saw that I had a... caring smile, as she would tell me later, on my face.

"You don't need to apologize for anything. I was still up, and also, you don't need to leave. I'm not mad at you" I told her. She gave me a small smile and told me about her nightmare. Have I mentioned that I _really_ wanted to kill her ex? If not, then yeah. I _really_ want to kill him.

"Why were you still up?" She asked me. I gave a small sigh and told her the truth.

"After my father left, I never really got that much sleep. I was lucky to get three per night." She looked at me in shock.

"You need the bed more than I do. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No you won't. You'll sleep in the bed."

"But you need to get some sleep!"

"I'll be fine. I've done this for the past twelve years of my life." Taryn bit her lip, thinking of a good way to put what ever she was going to say next.

"Why don't we share the bed?" It was my turn to look at her in shock. She just gave me a small smile, which was cute. Wait, did I just say 'cute?' Fuck, I have NEVER said that before, but Taryn makes me WANT to say it. "It would help the both of us deal with our... sleeping problems."

"If you think it'll work for the both of us, then yeah." She gave me a big smile, and allowed me to get under the covers. Afterwards, she snuggled up close to me and I put my arms around her protectively. That was the first time in twelve years that I got more than three hours of sleep.

**I'm going to start putting two matches in the chapters starting next time to speed up the story so I don't get that far behind the actual product. Also, as I said last time, I can't WAIT to type Destination X. It's gonna be one hell of a chapter. Also, for Taryn's ex, I need a good super villain name for him to wrestle under. I'll have the ring gear matched up perfectly to the villain and I will give full credit to the person who gave me the name. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA or the two songs I used in the story and all that good shit.**


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up the following morning when someone shook my shoulder. I opened my left eye half way to see Taryn there, with a small smile on her pink lips. She and I have been rooming together since last week. It has been a lot of fun, except for her whimpering due to her nightmares.

"What time is it?" I asked her groggily.

"It's 10:00 in the morning. We need to get to the arena by two" she replied, with a small smile.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"Because you looked peaceful when you were sleeping. It was cute." I didn't have a mirror, but I'm one hundred percent sure my face was red after she said that. I started to stumble over my words, which caused her to start giggling. I gave a small sigh of relief. Over the past few days, her ex has been sending her creepy texts, calling her, and even tried to send some people over to her table at the bars, clubs, and restaurants we were at. She was scared, and well, I was her knight in shining armor according to Velvet. Chris, Alex, and AJ seemed to agree with Velvet, and have helped me to send a message to her ex. I told Taryn that she could room with me in an effort to quell her fears of him showing back up in her life. She cleared her throat, which shook me out of my thoughts.

"See something you like?" She asked me. She was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, a light blue shirt that said 'Faded Glory' and a pair of white sneakers.

"Yes I do. I see an angel standing in front of me" I said, absent-mindedly. When I realize what I said, I started to blush furiously. I've never been the best when it comes to flirting. Of course, that was due to the fact that I always played my father's last words to me.

"Too bad I'm not an angel. Or worth anyone's time" I heard Taryn mutter. She was looking at the ground, probably remembering what her ex had said to her before. I decided to do the smart thing. I gently lifted her chin up, and looked her in the eyes.

"Taryn, you're an angel to me. You helped me get more hours of sleep than I did before I met you. Trust me when I say this, without you, I probably would have fucked my life up even more than it already was. Besides that, you showed me that I was worth your time, and that is the greatest thing to me" I told her, with a caring smile on my face. She gave me a small smile, which was cute.

"You always seem to have a caring smile on your face when you talk to me. Why is that?"

"Well, that's cause I actually care about you" I replied, not expecting her to give me a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. If my face got any redder, it would have looked like a tomato.

After we arrived at the USF Sun Dome, I found out that I was going to face off against Magnus right before the main event match. This should be a fun match.

I went out first to a nice reaction. Magnus came out, and his reception was much more noticeable, considering the roof was almost blown off the place. We shook hands before the match began.

* * *

Magnus and Matt started to circle each other, before going for a test of strength. Magnus won it, and had Matt backed into the corner. The ref told Magnus to back up, which he complied with. When Matt got out of the corner, he hit Magnus with a forearm to the face. Magnus retaliated with a couple of hard punches to the face, which knocked Matt back into a corner. Magnus set Matt up on the top turnbuckle and went for a superplex. Matt managed to block it, and started punching Magnus in the ribs to loosen his grip. Matt then headbutted him off the turnbuckle. As Magnus stood groggily, Matt hit him with a missile drop kick in the middle of the ring. Matt waited until Magnus was on his knees before grabbing his head. Matt hit a snap suplex on Magnus and set up for the spear. Magnus got to his feet and moved out of the spear. Matt ran shoulder first into the steel ring post. Magnus waited till Matt turned around before charging at him. Magnus hit two quick clotheslines before an atomic drop on Matt. Matt moved out of the way of the big boot, before hitting Magnus with a quick DDT. Matt used the time created by the DDT to catch his breath. When Magnus got to his knees, Matt hit him with a boot to the face. Matt then started to stomp down on his midsection until someone blasted him in the back with a weapon.

Matt turned around, only to see the group Aces&8s there. They started to beat him and Magnus down. "Get Magnus out of the ring" Bully told Doc and Knux. As they got Magnus out of the ring, Devon brought in a table. Bully and Devon set up for a 3D, which Matt stumbled into. Then they decided to do it one more time, only on the outside of the ring. Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, and Sting all came to the rescue of Matt and Magnus. Bully and Devon threw Matt over the top rope towards the announce table and hit him with the second 3D on the floor. The trainers went out to check on Matt, who just pushed them away as he struggled to get up.

* * *

I finally managed to get up, much to the delight of the crowd and walked over to where Magnus was. We shook hands again, showing respect to one another. I had an idea as to why Aces&8s attacked me, and I was going to get my revenge on them. I'll call out the person next week to get the truth out of him. When I got backstage, I was greeted with a hug from Taryn and some knowing glances from Chris, Alex, and Velvet. I really need to pull a good prank on them one of these days.

"Oh my gosh Matt, are you okay? You're not seriously hurt are you?" Taryn asked me hurridly. After how she was acting this morning, I was glad to see her back to her usual self.

"I'll be fine Taryn. I have a few ideas on why Aces&8s attacked me, and I'll get to the bottom of this." I replied. She gave me a little glare that said 'you better be sure you know what you are doing.' Something tells me that after I get the truth, I'll be attacked by them again. Damned if I do, damned if I don't is the phrase that comes to mind here. If I don't, then the person gets away scott free. If I do, I get attacked. Might as well go down swingin.

I turned on the TV in the green room and saw that it was Anderson vs Kurt in the main event. I started to grin, which caught the attention of Samoa Joe and Magnus.

"Matt, why are you grinning like a maniac?" Magnus asked me. Well, I do think I'll need the back up incase the plan goes south, so might as well tell them my plan.

"I have a plan for revenge. It's pretty simple: I'll turn the tables on Aces&8s by jumping one of their members. I already have a target in mind, and if this works, it'll probably make the target on my back will grow even bigger." They both just nodded their heads to show they were listening to the plan.

"Decent idea, but what if they end up getting the jump on you?" Magnus asked me. I gave him a quick grin.

"I'll need some back up for it. If you guys are interested in it" I replied. Joe looked like he was thinking about it, but Magnus jumped at the chance to get revenge.

"Let Kurt know of the plan beforehand, to minimize the confusion. Also, I'm pretty sure you'll need to see the trainer afterwards" Joe told me. I agreed to it, and decided to head over to Kurt's locker room, then I'll head to the trainer.

I knocked on the door, and heard Kurt tell me to come in. I went in, and saw Sting there as well. This is going to be good.

"Matt, what's up?" Kurt asked. I'll be honest, I never thought I would be able to make it in professional wrestling if it wasn't for Kurt Angle, but that's a story for another time.

"Well Kurt, I have an idea to turn the war with Aces&8s in our favor" I replied. That statement caught the attention of Sting and Kurt.

"What's the plan?" Kurt asked, with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice. I gave him a large grin.

"During your match tonight, I'll jump Anderson. If it goes south, Joe and Magnus will come out to help as well." Sting was giving me an evil grin. Kurt was just there thinking it over.

"It's pretty much jump them before they jump us. I'll help out as well" Sting told me. I gave him a quick nod. Kurt agreed to it as well, and I had a big ass smile on my face. This is going to be great. After I left, I walked to the trainer's office, to find out how serious my injury actually is.

"Surprisingly, it isn't as bad as I first thought. If you take it easy, you're bruised ribs will be healed within a week" he told me. I was extremely happy about that, but I managed to keep my emotions in check... Mostly. I did pump my fist a couple times.

After I got out of the trainer's office, I was jumped heading back to the green room. The person who attacked me was Kenny King, and he used a lead pipe on my injured ribs. He started ramming me into some vending machines, before hitting me with his finisher on the concrete floor. He wasn't done tohugh, since he then continued to beat me down until Sting came to my rescue. Apparently, King had busted me open by throwing my head into a crate. After the attack though, I knew two things: number one is that King had it out for me. That was going to end at Slammiversary in a last man standing match. Number two was that concussions fucking suck. Of course, that wasn't even the worst part of it. I heard that Gail had put Taryn in a figure four around the ring post. I had a sudden flashback to something my father had told me over a decade ago.

'_If you were strong enough to...' _I snapped out of my memory when I heard the door open. When I saw Taryn there, I was worried that she may be hurting more than she was letting on.

'Why do I have to be so damn weak!?' I thought to myself. I wouldn't be surprised if Taryn told me she found someone else who could protect her better than me.

"Matt, look at me please" I heard her ask me. When I did, I saw her big blue eyes light up with surprise. I knew it. She was going to find someone else. I was waiting for her to say, but she didn't. She just gave me a hug. I stiffened at the contact, which surprised her.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" She asked quickly. I gave her a small smile and a quick shake of my head.

"No you didn't. I just... didn't expect it. I had a small flashback, which is why I didn't expect it" I lied. She gave me an 'I know you are lying, but I will believe you' look. That was way to close for comfort. I'll tell her about my family situation eventually.

"Are you still in pain?"

"Well, the cut on my forehead is irritating, but other than that no." Taryn kissed the cut on my forehead, which caught me completely off guard.

"I hope that made it feel a little bit better" she said to me with a small smile. Honestly, it did help me out. I had a small smile on my face, cause it also proved that she had helped me out, more than she knew.

**Well, the fourth chapter is finally done, thankfully. I didn't expect it to take so long for me to actually finish it with just one match in it. I decided against doing two per chapter because that would just burn me out. Also, I would like to give a shout-out to nightmare898 for giving me the name of Drake Alva. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Last week, we saw a brutal attack on Matt Dixon by the Aces&8s, and then by Kenny King. We do know that he suffered a concussion due to the attack. We do know that he is here, and will give us an update on his condition and if he will be able to compete at Slammiversary." Todd said. Kenny King's music started to play, and he came out to a lot of boos. He just smirked at his reaction.

"Last week, I showed Matt Dixon just why I was the king of Impact. He got lucky when he beat me in his first match. If he dares to show his face tonight or at Slammiversary, then I'm going to end his career." He said, with his back turned to the ramp. When he turned around, I hit him with the spear and grabbed the mic he was holding.

"Kenny, for every king, there must be an assassin and at Slammiversary, the so called 'king' will fall, and the assassin will be the last man standing." I told him. The crowd was cheering for me as I left.

* * *

"Why did you guys drag me here again?" I asked Chris and Alex. Today was the 1st of June, and Slammiversary was just a day away. We all had matches, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on Kenny King.

"Well, Velvet wanted to go shopping, and since Alex has a girl now, we decided to make it a triple date" he replied. I was blushing and glaring at them. Chris had a smug grin, while Alex was trying his best not to laugh at my reaction.

"You guys are enjoying this aren't you?"

"Just a little bit" Alex replied. I just let out a short sigh. I knew I was going to lose the battle with them. I saw Velvet, Taryn, and the new girlfriend of Alex walking back to us. Alex's new girlfriend was a brunette who had light brown eyes. Her name was Hannah Blossom, or Lucy Knott. She gave Alex a little peck on the lips, and I just rolled my eyes at it.

"What do you guys want to do?" Velvet asked us.

"We should get something to eat. I'm starving" Alex and Chris said at the same time. Taryn and Hannah looked at them like they were crazy.

"Don't worry you two. They only do that when they are hungry or planning something stupid."

"Not all the time. Sometimes we have good ideas" Alex argued. Chris just shook his head. The whole argument lasted until we got to a restaurant, where Taryn and Hannah had forced us to be on our best behavior, otherwise we wouldn't have any children. Women are really evil when they want to be.

We were enjoying our meal when my phone buzzed. I saw that I had a text from an unknown number. To others, it would seem like a cryptic text. To me though, I knew who had sent it.

"Can't wait until I get to see you again. It'll be exactly 13 years to the date that you ran away." I felt all the color leave my face, and my breaths became ragged. I hope... no, I PRAY this is just a wrong number situation, but there was a nagging voice in the back of my head that said this was the real deal.

"Matt, are you okay?" Taryn asked me. I gave her a fake smile, and said I was fine. Velvet, Chris, and Alex all knew I was lying. That's what happens when people get close like brothers and sisters. Hannah looked like she was worried too, but Alex managed to get her attention. I really want to know who gave the damn prick my number.

"Well, do you guys want to go and see a game?" Taryn asked the group. Everyone said yes, but I was worried about Taryn finding out about my past before I could tell her. Or, to be more accurate, I was worried about her reaction when she heard about it. When we got to the park, we saw that it was going to be the Red Sox taking on the Tigers. Well, it was easy to see who we were going to root for.

The game ended at 7:30 eastern, with the Tigers winning 5-2. We then decided to go and play a quick game of basketball before going out on the town. We went back to the hotel to get changed, and while I was waiting for Taryn, I decided to look up some romantic areas in Boston. I was worried about her reaction to some of my past, but I was more worried about potentially losing her. She meant to much to me. When she got out of the bathroom, my jaw nearly fell to the ground. She was wearing a pink shirt underneath a tank top, and a pair of pink short-shorts. She looked amazingly beautiful to me. How did I get so lucky to meet her?

"Is there something wrong with me?" Taryn asked in a quiet voice.

"No. I was just surprised by your outfit" I replied.

"Do you want me to change?"

"You don't need to. You look even more beautiful in it." Her cheeks turned a little bit pink, and she gave me a small smile. God, why couldn't I meet her sooner? Or, better yet, why couldn't I be strong enough to make all of her fears go away?

"First to twenty-one will win the game. Does that work for you guys?" Alex asked. We all said it was fine. The teams were Taryn, Velvet, and Chris vs Alex, Hannah, and I. The only good part of the game was when Taryn 'accidentally' ran into me, and I had to hold her in a... romantic way to make sure she didn't fall.

"Are you going to kiss her or do we need to play some romantic music?" Chris asked us, in a sarcastic tone. Me and Taryn started to blush furiously, and well, Taryn's team won. I forgot how much fun it was to hang out with some real friends. After we went back to the hotel, Chris and Velvet asked me and Taryn if we wanted to go out to dinner with them.

"Sure" Taryn and I replied at the same time. Chris and Velvet just started to laugh while we looked at eachother. Our eyes met, and we started laughing about it. After everything we both have been through, it was nice finally being able to confide in eachother.

"We'll meet you in an hour in the lobby. Alex and Hannah will hopefully join us as well" Chris told us. We went back to our room so we could get changed. I was wearing my white long sleeve dress shirt and my best dress pants. Taryn came out of the bathroom, and my breath caught in my throat when I saw her. She was wearing a light blue dress with her pearl necklace.

"You look handsome Matt" Taryn said to me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I gave her a quick grin.

"Thanks. You look absolutely stunning Taryn" I replied, and she blushed at the compliment.

"Why thank you. Shall we get going?"

"After you." We met the others in the lobby, and we went to Olive Garden for dinner. We took our own cars, so we could go somewhere else after dinner.

"Taryn, you up for hanging out after dinner?" I asked her. She flashed me a bright smile and said yes. I couldn't wait till dinner was done now. I needed to tell her some of my past, and just how much she means to me.

* * *

We went to a medium sized hill that overlooked Boston, and Taryn was in awe of it. I had a small smile on my face, and went up behind her and gave her a hug.

"Matt, this view is just gorgeous. Don't you agree?" She asked me. I looked at the city, the stars, then back to her.

"It's the second most gorgeous thing I can see." I replied, with my heart beating at a hundred miles per hour. Butterflies were forming in my stomach, but I had to do this.

"The stars are amazing, but not like the city."

"Taryn, I wasn't talking about the stars. I was talking about you. The stars and city lights combined aren't as gorgeous as you are." I was redder than a tomato, and I think Taryn was blushing as well. I may be wrong.

"That is sweet Matt, but I know that isn't true. Everyone knows that isn't true." I turned her around, and I saw that she had tears forming in her eyes. My heart was about to break. I need to do the smart thing here.

"Taryn, it is true. I know this is going to sound weird, but you gave me a reason to change. If not for you, I probably would be doing a lot of stupid shit. When I look in your eyes, I see truth in them. Taryn, you mean the world to me. Hell, I would gladly walk through hell if it was a way to see your beautiful smile. And, I don't want to rush into a relationship with you because I want to show you that I was different from your ex." She looked at me with a shocked expression on her face, before giving me a big smile. I decided to give her a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Matt, has anyone told you you're like a knight in shining armor?"

"Some people have told me that, and well, you're the only person who made me want to be a knight in shining armor." She gave me a peck on the lips before we sat down. It was a peaceful night, and I wanted to tell her more about myself, but I couldn't. She was both my strength and weakness, and I was grateful for finding her so soon.

* * *

"Welcome to Slammiversary. I'm here alongside Mike Tenay and the Human Suplex Machine himself, Taz. Tonight we will see the return of Jay Lethal to Slammiversary." Todd said.

"On top of that, we have Alex Shelley and a partner of his choosing taking on Doc and Knux of Aces&8s. Plus, two feuds will be settled tonight. Matt Dixon will take on Kenny King in a last man standing match, while Taryn Terrell takes on Gail Kim in a last knockout standing match." Mike continued.

"And we get to see Bully Ray beat Sting tonight and end Sting's hopes of ever regaining the World Heavyweight championship. Going to be a good night for Aces&8s." Taz finished. The first match was going to be the Ultimate X match, which featured Chris Sabin, Suicide, and Jay Lethal. It was time for Slammiversary to begin, and Chris went out first to a nice pop. Lethal followed, to a thunderous reception to his return. Suicide was last, and the crowd gave him a decent pop. This is going to be a fun night for me, especially after I beat Kenny.

**This chapter was just used as a way to explain why there was a last man standing match between Kenny and Matt. Next chapter will be dedicated to Slammiversary, which was one hell of a PPV in my honest opinion. Now then, on to a couple of bigger things: the first is that next chapter will probably contain the four matches that are centered around the story before getting into the main event match. Second is that I am currently trying to make a cover for the story, so expect that hopefully within the next few chapters. Third is that this is probably going to be the only time I use a taped Impact to help advance the story. As for the blocked number text, that will be revealed soon enough. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	6. Chapter 6

_"Welcome to Slammiversary. I'm here alongside Mike Tenay and the Human Suplex Machine himself, Taz. Tonight we will see the return of Jay Lethal to Slammiversary." Todd said._

_"On top of that, we have Alex Shelley and a partner of his choosing taking on Doc and Knux of Aces&8s. Plus, two feuds will be settled tonight. Matt Dixon will take on Kenny King in a last man standing match, while Taryn Terrell takes on Gail Kim in a last knockout standing match." Mike continued._

_"And we get to see Bully Ray beat Sting tonight and end Sting's hopes of ever regaining the World Heavyweight championship. Going to be a good night for Aces&8s." Taz finished. The first match was going to be the Ultimate X match, which featured Chris Sabin, Suicide, and Jay Lethal. It was time for Slammiversary to begin, and Chris went out first to a nice pop. Lethal followed, to a thunderous reception to his return. Suicide was last, and the crowd gave him a decent pop. This is going to be a fun night for me, especially after I beat Kenny._

* * *

Chris goes straight after Jay and hits him with a quick clothesline. Suicide quickly goes up the Ultimate X structure until Chris pulls him down and hits him with a drop kick. Jay then hits Chris with a Clothesline to the back of the head. Jay then starts to stomp down on the both of them. Suicide was the first one to get up, and he starts to hit Jay with a flurry of kicks before hitting him the the heel kick. He turned around, straight into an elbow by Chris who then started to climb the structure. Suicide pulled him off and started to hit him with some punches. Chris turned the tables by kicking him in the gut then whipping him across the ropes. When Suicide got close enough, Chris hit him with a standing drop kick. Lethal then hit Chris with a springboard cross-body from the apron. When Lethal made it to his feet, he went to the turnbuckle and started to climb the structure, completely unaware of Chris getting back to his feet and following him to the turnbuckle. When Lethal turned around, Chris hit him with an enziguri. Chris then started to climb the structure, only to be stopped by Suicide who did everything in his power to stop Chris. Chris hit him with a neck-breaker from the structure to the mat. A 'this is awesome' chant broke out as all three competitors were down. The first one to their feet was Lethal, followed by Chris. They started to battle it out, but Chris ducked an enziguri, which ended up catching Suicide, and hit a DDT on Lethal. Chris then measured him for his finisher the All Hail Sabin, and hit it. Chris then started to climb the structure, and he managed to pull the X-Division title down. Alex and Matt came down to celebrate with him. Hulk Hogan then came out and told him that at Destination X, he could trade the X-Division title in for a shot at the World Heavyweight champion.

* * *

We walked to the back to watch the tag match between Magnus, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy take on Anderson, Garrett Bischoff, and Wes Brisco. The match had an interesting stipulation where if Aces&8s lost, Magnus and Joe were going to challenge for the tag team titles later on in the night. The match went as predicted, and saw Jeff Hardy get the pin on Anderson. Now it was my turn to kick some ass. I walked to the gorilla position when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Sting there.

"Good luck out there, and give them a reason to cheer for you. This is your time to make an impact" he told me. I nodded in agreement and headed to the ring. The crowd gave me a great reaction, and when King came out, they gave him a lot of boos. As soon as he climbed on the turnbuckle, I measured him for the spear. When he came down, I ran at full speed towards him and hit him with the spear to begin the match.

* * *

Matt started to rain down punches on King, who was covering his head with arms. Matt stood up and started to taunt King. Matt went out of the ring to grab a chair, and was met with a baseball slide which hit the chair into his chest. King then hit a springboard cross-body on him. King then started to use the chair on Matt's back, forcing him to go towards the guardrail in the corner. While taunting the fans and Matt, Matt was catching his breath. King ran at him, only to be met with a belly to belly suplex, directly into the guardrail. The crowd started to chant 'we want tables' as Matt grabbed the chair and started using it on King's back, forcing him to climb on the ramp. Matt threw the chair to the ground and waited for King to get on his knees before hitting him with a flurry of kicks, punctuated by a super-kick to the jaw. The ref started the count on King. "1...2...3...4...5...6" King got back to his feet. King ducked a clothesline attempt by Matt, before hitting him with a scoop slam. King then went and brought a kendo stick out and started to use it on Matt's back, forcing him to the other side of the ramp. King then hit an enziguri on Matt, sending him to the arena floor. The ref started the count on Matt. "1...2...3...4...5" Matt got up, and flipped King off, earning a loud cheer for it. King then ran and hit Matt with a clothesline from the ramp. The crowd started to chant 'this is awesome' as Matt and King got to their feet.

Matt hit King with a clothes line, before looking under the ring for a table. As soon as Matt brought the table out, he was hit in the back with the kendo stick. King started to use the stick to ruthless efficiency, only stopping after it broke. Matt managed to get up by the count of 8. King ran towards him, and Matt hit him with a back body drop. Matt stumbled over to the table and started to set it up. He turned around to see King hit him with a garbage can. Matt landed on the table, and King wanted the ref to count him down. Matt stayed down until the count of 9, which caused King to get angry. Matt hit a super kick on King, which rocked him a little. He then hit a clothesline on King, which had him down till the count of 7. Matt was surprised, and went to hit King with the garbage can. King got out of the way and hit Matt with a drop kick. It sent the garbage can into his chest, and sent him into the guardrail. Matt got up at the count of 9 again, and King got angry with the ref. He moved out of the way of a clothesline by Matt, but the ref wasn't so lucky. Matt turned to see King hit him with a new chair. King started to use the chair on Matt's back, until he decided it was enough. He stayed on the offensive by picking Matt up. Matt tried to fight back, but he was met with a kick to the gut. King hit him with a power-bomb on the ramp, and walked away from him. The ref was still out cold, so another one came out to check on him. King brought the table Matt set up by the ramp, and then he brought a ladder out. King then used the diving elbow on Matt, hoping it would be enough to keep him down. The new ref started the count, but Matt managed to get up by 8. King was livid by know. He just started to punch him in the head until Matt was busted open. He then grabbed the chair and hit Matt with it before putting it around his neck. The ref tried to stop him, but he was hit with a punch to the jaw. "I'm going to end your fucking career you bitch!" King shouted at Matt. Matt rolled out of the way of King's leg drop attempt and took the chair off of his neck. Matt turned and saw King holding the back of his leg, and when Matt got close enough, he kicked him in the gut. King then hit Matt with a pile-driver, which caused the crowd to start booing him. King was excited for his win, but both refs were both down. He shook the original ref, who started the count. "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9" Matt managed to get to his feet, much to the surprise of the announcers, ref, and King. The crowd started chanting 'holy shit' and 'TNA.' King ran at full speed towards Matt, who hit him with a kick to the gut when he got close. Matt hit him with a DDT, and struggled to get to his feet. When he did, he went and grabbed another table. When it was set up, King started to attack Matt from behind before throwing him on it. King then brought the ladder over to the side of the ramp and started to climb to the top. King tried to hit a 450 splash on Matt, but was treated to a cutter from out of nowhere. Both were down and the ref started the count. "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9" Matt got to his feet, but King didn't. "...10. Ring the bell" Matt had just won a very physical match, and was greeted by Chris and Alex who helped him get to the back.

* * *

When we got to the back, I was greeted by Hardy, Sting, and Taryn. Hardy handed me an ice pack for my lower back. Taryn had a worried look on her face.

"That was one hell of a match Matt. If you keep up the good work, you will be Heavyweight champ within the next year" Hardy said to me. I just nodded my thanks, and he left. Sting also left, leaving Taryn there.

"Matt, are you okay? Your not seriously hurt are you?" She asked me, in a panicked voice. I gave her a small, reassuring smile.

"Taryn, I'm fine. I'm a lot tougher than I look. Trust me" I replied. It was true to an extent. I was pretty strong to where I could handle a lot of shit. The only thngs I knew I couldn't were my fears coming true. My greatest fear is that Taryn ends up getting hurt because of me or my past. My second greatest fear was ending up like my father. The rest of my fears were pretty much the same. Taryn getting hurt, or her being like someone/something from my past. I wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Matt, are you listening to me?" Taryn asked. I shook my head and she gave me a sigh.

"I was saying that after the show we should go out to celebrate the show."

"Sounds like a plan Taryn" I replied, giving her a smile. She blushed at it, and she looked cute. I never expected to use the word cute to describe any girl I ever met due to my ex, but Taryn truly made me change for the better. I am truly thankful for that.

"Well, it looks like it's my turn, and I can't wait to hear the reaction to my partner being introduced" Alex said. We are perfect in our matches so far, so I couldn't wait to watch win number three for us.

**This is the first part of Slammiversary. Next part will probably be up either tonight or tomorrow, not 100% sure. I'll give a fair warning right now, the fears I listed will come into play soon, and that chapter will contain some strong language. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	7. Chapter 7

_"Well, it looks like it's my turn, and I can't wait to hear the reaction to my partner being introduced" Alex said. We are perfect in our matches so far, so I couldn't wait to watch win number three for us._

* * *

Aces&8s went out first to a lot of boos. It was only Doc and Knux who were out there, and they were just soaking up their reaction before Doc started to talk.

"You know, we were nice enough to grant that small fry named Alex Shelley a shot at us tonight if he could find a partner. We all know he couldn't find one, so he should just forefit the match right now" he said. Knux was just nodding his head in agreement. Motor City started to play, and Alex went out to the ramp. He just had a smirk on his face.

"You know, you're right. I couldn't find a partner. Well, at least no one from the back were able to team with me, so I decided to go to someone else. And believe me when I say this choice is an instant classic" he said. Take Over started to play and everyone went crazy for the return of Christian Cage to TNA. He shook hands with Alex, and they ran to the ring. Doc and Knux just fled to the outside. There were welcome back chants by the crowd. This is going to be a fun match to see.

Doc and Cage started it off with a test of strength, which led to Doc getting kicked in the gut. Cage hit him with a snap suplex, before going for a quick pin. "1..." Doc kicked out, and Cage started to stomp on his midsection. Cage waited for Doc to get to his feet before hitting him with a DDT and tagging in Shelley. When Shelley was tagged in, he hit a 450 splash on Doc, but only got a 2 count.

Shelley made a tag to Cage, who started to punch Doc in the jaw. Doc managed to get some separation after he hit Cage with a clothesline. He made the tag to Knux, who started to hit Cage with a flurry of punches. Knux placed Cage on the top turnbuckle, but Cage started to fight back and succeded in pushing Knux off the turnbuckle. Cage then hit a frog splash on Knux, and went for the pin. "1...2..." The pin was interupted by Doc, who then started to hit Cage with a flurry of punches. Shelley got in and started to brawl with Doc, before giving him a spinning heel kick which sent him out to the floor. Knux went to push Shelley out of the ring, but it was countered into the Sliced Bread #2. Cage then measured Knux up for a spear, and hit it. The ref went for the pin. "1...2...3 ring the bell." The match was over, and everyone was excitied for the return of Captain Charisma.

Alex and Christian came backstage, and I was the first person Alex saw.

"Yo Matt. Great match out there bro, but how's your neck?" He asked me.

"It's still attached, but it is hurting a little. Nothing serious" I replied, to which he just rolled his eyes. Christian walked up to me, before extending a hand to me.

"Most wrestlers would have suffered a broken neck after that pile-driver" he told me. I shook his extended hand, and told him I was a lot tougher than I look. After that, he decided to go and get changed. We went to the green room to watch the tag title match. Joe and Magnus were dominating it, but Aces&8s got involved behind the refs back, and caused Magnus to get pinned.

Me and Alex walked over to Taryn, who was getting ready for her match. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I would gladly suffer five broken necks in a row if it meant Taryn wouldn't get hurt.

"Good luck out there Taryn. We'll be rooting for you" I called out to her. She gave me a bright smile, and my heart skipped a beat... And Alex was just giving me a shit eating grin.

"Oh Taryn, I absolutley love your smile. I love everything about you so much that Cupid didn't even have to shoot me with an arrow" he said, in what can only be described as a 'lovey-dovey' voice. I gave him a glare.

"Was Matt checking out Taryn again?" Chris asked from behind me. I jumped a foot in the air, which caused them to burst out laughing. I gave them both a glare.

"Fuck you guys" I replied in a friendly serious tone.

"Our name isn't Taryn though" Alex replied, with a grin on his face. Chris was just howling with laughter. Walked right into that one.

"Whatever, let's just watch the match." With that, we walked over to the green room and saw the match had barely started.

* * *

Taryn went after Gail with big elbows almost immediately. Gail responded with elbows of her own, before hitting Taryn with a clothesline. Gail then whipped Taryn across the ring and into the other turnbuckle and hitting her with a running drop kick. Gail started to kick Taryn in the midsection until she got to the mat. She waited for Taryn to get up before putting her in an Octopus submission, and that had Taryn down until the count of 8, while Gail went out of the ring to get a chair. She set it up in the middle of the corner opposite of where Taryn was. She whipped Taryn towards the chair, but Taryn stopped before she it. Gail took her legs out from underneath her and put her in a figure four around the corner post. After Gail let go of the move, Taryn was done until the count of 9. Taryn got up, and was in the corner with the chair. Gail went for a cross-body, but Taryn moved out of the way and she hit the chair face first. It knocked her out until the count of 9. She got on the ramp, and Taryn went for a spear. Gail moved out of the way, and Taryn landed face first on the ramp. When Taryn got to her feet, she and Gail started to trade punches. Taryn whipped Gail to the side of the ramp, before setting up for another spear. Gail saw it coming, and the second Taryn got close, she took her legs out from underneath her. She then picked Taryn up, and tried for a piledriver two times. Taryn blocked both attempts, and countered it with a running cutter off of the ramp. There were 'TNA' and 'holy shit' chants for the move. ODB started the count on them both. "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9" Taryn got to her feet, but Gail didn't. "...10 ring the bell" the match was over, and Taryn started to celebrate until the Aces&8s theme played. Bischoff and Brisco were the two who came out, and Bischoff had a mic in his hand. Taryn was scared for her safety, which caused Bischoff to smirk.

* * *

"You don't need to worry about us attacking you. We just want to talk to you, and give you an offer you can't refuse." He told her, getting a little to close for my taste. Alex and Chris saw this, and I'm sure they wanted to kill him as well. I saw Taryn be given a mic, hopefully to tell him to go fuck himself.

"It doesn't matter what type of deal you have, I refuse to work for your group." She replied, but the bastard was still smirking, and he was getting even closer.

"That is where your wrong babe. You will end up accepting this deal, cause you and I both know you're head over heels in love with me." He just signed his death warrant, and Alex decided it was better to help me out with this. Or to keep me from kicking their asses too much with the lead pipe I picked up. We walked out, to a lot of cheers, and Bischoff didn't even look fazed by us.

"How cute. Are you going to try to protect Taryn, and make her deny her feelings toward-" was all he could say before I grabbed the mic from his hand.

"Bischoff, I will give you till the count of three for the both of you to turn and run like the little bitches you really are. If not, then your gonna feel a lot of pain" I told him in a cold voice. He just smirked and shook his head no. I looked over to Alex, who was ready to kick some ass again. I just smirked at him, and started the count down on my fingers. When it got to 1, I flipped Bischoff off, and hit him with the lead pipe to the jaw, which sent him backwards. He and Brisco then started to run away. We walked Taryn to the back, where she gave me a questioning look.

"What? Is there something on my face?" I asked her, and she shook her head no.

"Why did you go out there with a lead pipe?" She asked me.

"He was getting to close for my liking" I replied absent mindedly. She just gave me a small smile and a peck on the cheek, and I realized what I just told her and had a small blush on my face.

"Thank you my knight. You're absolutely the sweetest guy I met." The blush on my face grew a little bit larger.

"You're welcome Princess" I replied. It felt good to call her princess, and to hold her. I guess I'm in love, which is bad for me. It always ends horribly for me, no matter what I try to do. We walked to the green room to see the last two matches of the night: Angle vs Styles, and Sting vs Bully Ray.

We were all surprised when Angle was named the second Hall of Famer and picked up the win over Styles. Now though, it was time for the main event. Bully promised Sting that he was going to beat him with the pile-driver, and he damn near did. He used a knife to cut the ring up, earning 'E C Dub' chants. When Sting kicked out and hit the death drop on the exposed wood, Aces&8s came out. ME and Alex ran down to continue our brawl with Bischoff and Brisco, but when Sting lost the match, the other members of Aces&8s attacked us from behind. I was given a 3D on the exposed wood, while Alex was just thrown into the steps. Bully then hit me with a Bully Cutter on the wood, hurting my neck even more.

"This is why everyone fears the Aces and Eights!" He said, and the show ended with me being tended to by EMTs.

**Slammiversary is officially done, and the next impact show i'm going to use is the June 20th episode from Peoria, Illinois. I will include me waking up in the hospital and all that good shit. Before I forget to say this, the Aces&8s will use the lyrical version of their theme song. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	8. Chapter 8

_All I could see was black. No light, no warmth, no nothing. I started to walk around, and came upon a chair and someone tied to it. The chair turned, and to my horror it was Taryn who was tied to it. A figure appeared, and the figure was wearing an Aces and Eights mask, along with the ring gear of Big Boss Man and the Shield. I tried running towards Taryn, but I couldn't move. The figure started to hit her, and I kept on trying to protect her. I heard a familiar laugh from behind me. I turned, and there he was. "You're not strong enough to protect her. Just like you weren't strong enough to save your mother or your brothers. You are nothing but a piece of shit." Those words were louder than before, and I was confronted with everything from my past, and my past started to mock me. I saw a gun on the ground, picked it up, and shot it...  
_

* * *

__I shot straight up from a bed, and I was looking around nervously. When I realized I was in a hospital, I relaxed a little. Those words just kept on ringing in my ears though, and causing me to doubt myself. What if they were true, and I couldn't protect Taryn? What if I ended up being like my father? Worse than that though, what if I ended up being like Taryn's ex? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened. I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder, and I started to panic. I looked up to see Taryn there with a caring look on her face. I was ready to break down when I saw her, but I managed to keep it bottled up.

"Matt, are you okay? I saw you shaking while you were out" Taryn asked me. I gave her a fake smile.

"I'm fine Taryn" I lied. She just gave me a worried look, which made me panic inside, thinking she may have figured out I was lying to her. Lord knows I don't want to talk about my past, and I don't think Taryn would be able to handle it.

"Well, since you're okay, the I want to tell you something" she started. I braced myself for the whole 'you are a sweet guy, but you are only a friend to me' speech. "You shouldn't have gone out to brawl with Bischoff and Brisco. It was the reason why you suffered a pinched nerve in your neck, and apparently it could have been worse. You need to take it easy for two weeks, and don't even think about doing anything strenuous. I'll be there to help you out" she finished, with a small smile on her face.

"Okay, nothing to strenuous, anything else I need to remember?" I asked her, and she shook her head no. At least I knew she was going to be there to help me out when I needed it while I was dealing with the pinched nerve. Someone knocked on the door, and Taryn opened the door, surprised to see Bully Ray there. Taryn let him in, reluctantly and he spoke first.

"Hope you're doin good. I want to say this real quick though: I got a plan for you and Alex to become tha number one contenders." I gave him a quizzical look, and asked him "what is the plan?"

"It's simple: when you can get back in tha ring, you and Alex vs me and Devon." I started to think it over, and decided to go with it.

"Okay, that is a good idea. However, let's make it to where I return to save Taryn from Bischoff and you come out and tell me to find a partner." Taryn was giving me an 'are you serious' look, which was kinda cute if I say so myself.

"Okay. We'll let Alex know as well. When will you return?"

"Probably on the 20th, so it will give us something to look forward to." He nodded in agreement, and decided it was time for him to leave. After he left, Taryn turned her attention to me.

"Are you absolutely sure you're gonna be able to return on the 20th?" She asked me. I gave her a quick smile that pretty much said yes. After I was let out of the hospital, me and Taryn decided to go to Peoria to get a good hotel room for us. We decided to take a trip to the closest mall for a couple of hours before going to the movies.

"How does this shirt look on me Matt?" Taryn asked me, wearing a red shirt that said 'my hero doesn't need to wear a cape.'

"It looks amazing on you" I replied. She blushed and decided to buy it. I was one of those people who didn't want to buy anything expensive, and would be perfectly fine with a plain red shirt. Taryn tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. I turned, to see her holding two shirts. One was an ocean blue shirt that said 'true love thinks you're perfect no matter what' and a pink shirt that said 'only one person can make me smile like a fool.'

"Matt, which shirt should I buy? They are both extremely cute and I just can't decide" she asked me.

"Get the ocean blue shirt. It matches your eyes" I replied, with a small smile on my face. She just blushed and thanked me for my answer. After that was done, she asked me to take a picture with her, and I agreed. After that was done, we went to see a romantic movie that Taryn had wanted to see for a while. When we finally got back to the hotel room, Taryn told me that I was going to sleep in the bed, while she cuddled up as close as she could to me. That was when I finally decided to tell Taryn the truth about why I didn't get that much sleep.

"Taryn, can I tell you something really quick?" I asked her. She just smiled and nodded her head.

"Well, the reason why I don't get that much sleep is cause for the past twelve years I always had this fear that someone was going to kill me in my sleep." I told her, and she had a surprised and worried look on her face.

"Why did you think that?" She asked me, panic evident in her voice.

"It was due to my father. I really don't want to talk about him."

"Why not? Matt, this is serious and you should-" I cut her off, and I had a pained look in my eyes according to her.

"Please don't make me talk about him. Please" I pretty much begged her. She agreed, and she gave me a hug and right before she fell asleep, she gave me a peck on the cheek and said "I'm glad I met you Matt. You keep me from having nightmares." I kissed her forehead, and we both fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Taryn had just won her match, and was celebrating. Garrett Bischoff went out to "congratulate" her, which was code for him to do something creepy.

"You know babe, since that one person was taken out at Slammiversary, you should just announce your feelings about me to the world" he said. Taryn grabbed the mic from his hand, and he started to smirk.

"Garrett, you're nothing except a creep. I have no feelings for you what so ever" Taryn told him, with finality in her voice. He backed her up to the corner and I ran down to make the save. After I sent him packing, Bully Ray and Devon made their way to the ring, and I picked up the mic Bischoff dropped. Bully spoke up first.

"Do you know who we are? We are-" was all he could say, before I cut him off.

"We know who you are. You are the bitches known as Aces and Eights. This so called 'big bad group' of people who can't win a damn match without the help of the others in it" I said, much to the delight of the crowd.

"Considering we put you out of action a few weeks back, you should shut your mouth and stay out of our way" Devon said, which made me smirk.

"You think I'm just going to run away because of you guys trying to injure me? You guys are dumber than I thought. I don't back down from a fight, as a matter of fact, I always strike back five times stronger than before. You put me out of action for two weeks, I will put one of you out for ten weeks. You can count on that!" I replied to Devon, which made him angry.

"How about we settle this the old fashion way Matt. You get a partner of your choosing to take on me and Devon in the ring later on" Bully said, which made me smile even more.

"On one condition: if me and my partner win tonight, no matter whether by DQ, countout, pinfall, or submission, we get a shot at the tag team titles at Destination X" I replied.

"Deal." With that, I carried Taryn from the ring and to the back. Taryn just gave me a quick hug before going to get changed.

"So kid, you and her going out yet?" Christian asked from behind me.

"We're not dating, we're just good friends. That's it" I replied, and he was giving me a little grin.

"Trust me, the look you gave her wasn't the look of a friend. It was of someone who is in love. She gave you the same look."

"If we do end up dating, I would find a way to fuck it up. That's just how I am."

"Unless that means cheating on her, I highly doubt you would be able to fuck it up. I knew her ex was a douchebag, and he found a way to get me fired as well." I looked over at him, and he gave me a quick grin.

"If he came to TNA though, I know you wouldn't stop until he begged for mercy or just said that he gave up and said 'I quit' to you."

"If he comes here, I hope he targets me first, just so I could knock his ass out." Christian gave me a pat on my shoulder and left. It was the main event time, and it was going to be me and Alex taking on Team 3D. Quite frankly the best damn tag team ever. They went out first, to a lot of boos. When I came out, I was greeted with the roof blowing off the place. I started the 'bring him out' motion, and the crowd started to cheer for Alex.

* * *

Matt and Devon started the match off, and Matt just started to hit him with fierce punches to the jaw which forced Devon into the corner. Matt hit him with a running knee to the jaw, followed up with a bulldog out of the corner. Matt then started to stomp away at Devon's midsection before going for a pin. "1..." Devon kicked out. Matt waited until Devon got to his knees before hitting him with a flurry of kicks, ending in a super-kick to the jaw. Matt made the tag to Alex, and Alex went to work on Devon's legs.

Alex started to stomp down on the ankles of Devon, before going to the top rope and hitting a double foot stomp on his stomach. Alex went for a springboard moonsault, but Devon rolled out of the way and tagged in Bully Ray. Bully started to punch Alex in the head, before pushing him towards the ropes. He then used the ropes to send Alex to the other side, and when he came back Bully hit him with a tilt a whirl back-breaker. Bully took the time to taunt the fans, which gave Alex time to catch his breath. When Bully turned around, Alex hit him with a standing drop kick. Alex then started to crawl over to Matt and tagged him in. Matt then started to punch Bully in the head. Bull ran towards him, but Matt caught him and started to headbutt him. Matt then hit him with a belly to belly suplex, which caused Devon to get in the ring. Alex came in and started to brawl with Devon as the other members of the Aces&8s came out. As they circled the ring, Sting, Kurt Angle, Christian Cage, and Samoa Joe came out to even the numbers. Bully went to hit me with the ball peen hammer, but I ducked underneath it and hit him with an enziguri. Matt picked the hammer up, and hit Devon in the back of his head with it then threw it out to the floor. Bully started to get up, and Matt used the Bully Cutter on him, and went for the pin. Alex turned the ref around in time to see Matt go for the pin. "1...2...3 ring the bell." The match was over.

* * *

Me and Alex were celebrating, and when Sting and the others came into the ring, I grabbed the mic.

"You see Bully, when I said I would strike back five times stronger, I wasn't lying. You are dealing with the Motor City Assassin, and you should be glad I decided against using my newest finisher. Although, Bischoff won't be so lucky at Destination X" I said. The show ended with the good guys standing tall in the ring.

**Well, the latest chapter is up, and we are officially three chapters away from Destination X. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	9. Chapter 9

'If that bastard even tries anything funny I am going to teach him why you don't mess with someone from Detroit' I thought to myself. I'll fill you in on a good story. Me and Taryn decided to go out for dinner tonight, the 28th, and there is this dumbass who has been trying to hit on her. Taryn has been polite to him, saying she was here with me. The poor fool has been talking down about me, and every time he leaves to get something, Taryn reminds me I have to be on my best fuckin behavior. Now then, the reason why he better be careful is cause he asked Taryn for an autograph. Have I mentioned that we are in a secluded area, far away from the majority of the people in the restaurant? Yeah, this goes down as my dumbest decision ever. Taryn is walking back over, and I see the douchebag checking her out.

"Matt, we should get out of here. That guy is really starting to freak me out" she told me. I gave her a quizzical look, and she just sighed. "I have this feeling he was sent by my ex. So, can we please just leave?"

"Sure, and if he follows us I am knocking him out cold. Just so you know" I replied, and she rolled her eyes at the comment. I just gave her a quick grin, and paid the bill for our meal. We started to walk towards my car when we heard someone call out "where ya goin with that loser sweet cheeks? Don't ya want to get with a real man, or are ya satisfied with that loser's small dick?" I turned to face him, and the guy would have started to smirk, obviously not fazed by me.

"Listen here pal, if you don't turn around now, one of us is going to suffer a broken nose and it sure as hell won't be me" I told the dumbass. He was barely 5''11, and looked like he was around 205 pounds. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and a really annoying smirk on his face.

"Ya don't scare me. I can take ya with one arm tied behind my back" he said, with a lot of cockiness in his voice. Something tells me that he is one of those rich brats who thinks the world will give him what he wants. I saw Kurt and Allen(**AJ Styles**) walk up behind him.

"Kid, it's best if you just leave. He is very protective of that girl, and won't hesitate to break your nose" Kurt told him, and the dumbass still had that annoying smirk on his face. I think AJ wanted to hit him as well due to that smirk.

"Please, that loser won't be able to get one punch in on me, just like you two losers. That bitch will then realize that she's been hangin with a bunch of losers and come home with me" he told them, completley unaware of me walking up to him, or the 'oh shit, he is officially fucked' looks from Kurt and AJ. I tapped him on his shoulder, and the second he turned around I hit him square in the jaw.

"Taryn isn't a bitch, and she sure as hell won't want to go home with a cocky jackass like you" I told him, while he was holding his jaw. I turned around, and when I got back to Taryn, I put my arm around her shoulders. We then went back to our hotel for the rest of the night. She had a far away look in her eyes, which made me worried.

* * *

"Taryn, are you okay?" I asked her once we got into our hotel room. Her eyes were filled with anger, and sadness. I quickly pulled her into a hug, and she started to cry. After she was done crying, I brought a glass of water out for her.

"Thank you" she said, and her voice was a little bit hoarse. It broke my heart hearing her cry. When Taryn was done drinking the water, I took the glass back to the small little kitchen part of the room.

"Taryn, what's wrong?" I asked her, with concern lacing my voice. She looked up at me, and I thought I saw a glimmer of anger in her eyes. Not at me, but at herself.

"Matt, I need to tell you something important" she told me. I gaver her a slight nod, to let her know that I would listen.

"When he called me a bitch, he wasn't lying about it. The last words my ex told me was that I was a bitch and would never find a guy who actually gave a damn about me" She started to sob, and I knew that there were officially one more person on my shit list. "When I met him, he started off sweet but then started to get more abusive. He called me a selfish bitch, and I can't help but think he was right" she finished, starting to sob uncontrollably. She probably wanted to say more, but she couldn't manage to say it between sobs.

"Taryn, I guess that my name is actually No One, cause I actually care for you. And I promise that if he ever shows up, I will make sure he learns his lesson the hard way. And that is to never mess with someone from Detroit who hates the abusive people in the world" I told her, and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. She then rested her head against my chest, and managed to mutter "you have no idea how much that actually means to me." I gave a little smile, until she looked up at me.

"We forgot to go somewhere and dance to end our date" she told me before changing the date to 'our time together' when she realized what she said. I'm pretty sure I was blushing, but I pulled her to her feet. I turned on a CD player, and the first song that played was This I Swear by Nick Lachey. I am going to kill Chris tomorrow. We started to slow dance, and the last song we danced to was God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton. Gotta admit, that song fit perfectly with me.

'how could an angel like her see anything in me?' I thought to myself. Yeah, self confidence isn't exactly my strong spot... neither is love, seeing as how I either end up fucking up or the girl ends up using me for a sick joke. I can only pray that neither of those things end up happening. When the song ended, me and Taryn met the gazes of each other, started to lean in when...

"Yo Matt! Don't mean to interrupt anything, but I got a question to ask you" I heard Alex shout from outside my door. Bad timing is his strong suit, and ironically, the thing I hate the most. When I opened the door, he had a smug grin, and decided to ask his question.

"Did I interrupt anything important?"

"Just me finalizing my plans for world domination" I deadpanned, which made him laugh. Taryn was giving Alex a death glare, and I suddenly felt bad for him.

"So I managed to interrupt you guys kissing. Chris owes me fifty dollars." Now I wanted to kill him. He just had to ruin a perfect moment for fifty dollars.

"I'll be going now. Just wanted to ask those two questions." Why can't I have some normal people as friends? Is that too much to ask for? Taryn let out a small depressed sigh, which surprised me.

"I'm going to go change into my pajamas" she told me. I gave her a slight nod, and when she went into the bathroom, I looked for a pair of shorts. When I found a decent pair, I started to change right by the bed. I didn't hear the bathroom door opening, but I did hear Taryn give a little 'eep' which made me turn around. Taryn was blushing, and started to stumble over her words.

"Sorry. I didn't know you were changing" she managed to say, trying to contain her blush.

"It's okay. Let me just finish getting changed" I replied, with a red face. Taryn nodded her head, and turned around so I could change in peace.

After I was done changing, I saw that Taryn was still turned around. I decided to hug her from behind. She turned her head, and had a cute smile on her face.

"Matt, carry me to the bed please? I'm tired" she asked me in a cute little voice, and giving me the puppy dog eyes. I carried her to the bed, and laid her down gently. I climbed in, and she snuggled up as close as she could to me. I just started to smile, and I fell into a peaceful night of sleep.

* * *

Me and Alex were in the back with Chris.

"Chris, you don't need to worry about the Aces getting involved in your match tonight. We got your back bro" I told him. Alex nodded in agreement.

"Thanks you two. I'm going to get ready for the match though" he replied. We went our separate ways, and I got jumped by someone. All I remember is that Sting and Kurt carried me to the trainer's office.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with you minus the cut on your head and lip. The person/persons responsible must have fled before they could do a lot of damage" the trainer said.

"I have a feeling on who jumped me, and if it is true then I will make them pay." I left the trainer's office and told Alex my plan, and he agreed to go along with it. We headed out to the ring to issue the perfect challenge.

"At Destination X, me and Alex have a chance to become tag team champs if we beat Bitchoff and No Balls Brisco, and we decided to give them a quick heads up. Our match won't just be a normal one, no no no. It will be a match revolutionized by their bosses: a tables match" I said. The crowd tarted to cheer for that, and then their music hit. Bischoff, Brisco, and Anderson came down to the ring.

"Dixon, you have got to be out of your mind if you think you have a shot at beating these two future stars" Anderson said. I rolled my eyes at his comment.

"The second one of them becomes a star is the second pigs start flying" I shot back, which was met with a glare from the three of them and the crowd loving it. Bischoff took the mic from Anderson.

"If you want a tables match, you got it and we will show you why everyone fears the Aces and Eights again" Bischoff said to me, in a cold voice. I just smirked at him.

"Thank you for the tables match. I can only hope the rest of your wanna be biker group watches us kick your ass and finish you off with a 3D. Testify to that bitches" I replied, before getting out of the ring. During the main event, we went out with the Main Event Mafia to keep the Aces out of it. When Chris hit the Cradleshock from the second rope, we started to celebrate. We now have the best chance to stop Bully's reign of terror, and we were going to try our hardest to end it. I just hope Taryn doesn't get injured next week. That would absolutely suck.

**Well, the latest chapter is up, and we are officially two chapters away from Destination X. I decided against typing the whole main event match. I should have the next chapter up by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	10. Chapter 10

We were taping the July 11th episode, and I saw that I was in a match with Anderson. Apparently he wanted to teach me "some respect" for those who are clearly better than myself. Being jumped a lot growing up, I knew this was just so they could try to injure me. It was going to be right before the main event of Taryn and Gail in a ladder match, which I hope Taryn will win. I ran into someone while I was walking around backstage, and saw that it was Sting.

"Sting, I have to ask a favor of you and the Mafia" I told him. He just raised his eyebrow, curious as to why I would need a favor.

"What is it?" He asked. I let out a small sigh, realizing that I was in a win-lose situation.

"I have a match against Anderson later on tonight, right before the main event. I realize that either way, the Aces will get what they want, so I need the Mafia to make sure Taryn doesn't get jumped by them." He gave me a smirk, before surprising me with a simple statement.

"We can't have our best hit man go down." What does he mean by that? I shook my head and shook his hand, and thanked him in advance for protecting Taryn. I was wondering what he meant by 'best hit man' but I knew it was probably nothing. The only major championship I held was the Ring Of Honor Heavyweight championship, and that was only for a few months. At least I managed to accomplish one thing, and that was Taryn being protected from the Aces. I went to get changed into my ring attire, when I heard a knock at the door. I quickly grabbed my lead pipe and opened the door. Rampage Jackson was standing there, and just extended a hand for me to shake.

"What's going on?" I asked him, causing someone to laugh from behind him.

"It's pretty simple. Anderson is the new VP of the Aces, and considering your facing him we wanted to offer you a deal" the person said. It turned out to be Kurt, and he gave me an evil smile.

"What's the deal?"

"It's simple: you take out Anderson, and we offer you a spot in the Mafia."

"What happens if I can't take him out?"

"If you can't, then we will keep the Aces out of Taryn's match tonight. If you tried, then you will need to talk to Sting." I thought about, and had the most evil smile on my face.

"Tell you what, you tell Sting that Anderson has found himself on my hit list, and that he will know pain." Kurt just smirked and nodded his head. I knew this will probably put an even bigger target on my back, but I also knew this was so I could at least guarantee the safety of Taryn. 'Hopefully there won't be any interference in my match, but just to be safe, I'll bring along some brass knuckles' I thought to myself. I opened my door, and I saw Bully Ray standing there with the ball peen hammer the Aces used to take out a lot of wrestlers out with. He just put his hand on my shoulder, and pushed me back into the locker room.

"I got a deal for ya. I know that the Main Event Mafia offered you a decent deal, but mine will blow it out of tha water" he told me. I have a bad feeling about this deal, but hopefully it isn't as bad as I think.

"What is the deal?" I asked him, fearing the answer. He just gave me a predatory grin, which made me realize that this was worse than I thought.

"It's simple: you lay down and let Anderson pin ya, and we don't lay a hand on that blonde bitch ya seem to like. If not, then she will get acquainted with this hammer." I felt sick to my stomach. If I didn't give them the win, then they would attack Taryn and use the hammer on her. On the other side, if I didn't fulfill the promise I made to Sting, I'm sure they wouldn't protect her. I needed to figure a way out of this mess and soon.

"If ya plan on doin both deals, I got some bad news for ya. Our deal will only work, so make the right decision for that blonde bitch." He was right. I needed to make the right decision for Taryn's sake.

"Bully, you'll see my answer when me and Anderson face off. Not a moment sooner."

"That works for me. Good luck tonight, and I hope for the bitch's sake you made the right decision." He left with that, and I started to smirk. 'I made the perfect decision, and I will make sure it is a memorable one' I thought to myself, before I headed to where the Mafia's locker room was.

"We saw the deal Bully gave you. If you're worried about Taryn, don't be. We will make sure she gets to the ring safely" Joe told me, and I just smiled at him.

"I want you to go and bring her here so you can hear the answer to my deal" I replied, and Sting told Magnus, Joe and Rampage to go and get Taryn. When they were out of sight, I gave Kurt and Sting an evil smile.

"When Bully gets involved in the ladder match, I want him. If he thinks he's getting away with threatening Taryn, then he has another thing coming" I told them, to which they both agreed. When the others returned, I told them the same thing I told Kurt and Sting, and they agreed to it as well. Taryn was worried that I may get injured by them, but I knew the perfect person to help us out. After getting his help for a small price, I headed for the gorilla position for my match. Tonight, the Aces will realize no one messes with Taryn as long as the Motor City Assassin is around. I saw that Anderson was in the ring already, so I made my way out to cheers. This is going to be one short match.

* * *

Anderson told Matt lay down, so Matt did to a large number of boos. He decided to go for the cocky pin by placing one foot on Matt's chest. After the ref hit 2, Matt kicked out which pissed him off. Matt pulled out the pair of brass knuckles and hit him in the jaw, causing a disqualification. Matt just started to lay into Anderson until he was busted open. After Matt busted him open, Matt set up two tables right right by the ramp. Matt threw Anderson onto the ramp and hit him with a power-bomb through both tables. He then set up another two, and placed Anderson on the top turnbuckle and hit him with another power-bomb. Matt then grabbed a mic, as the trainers tended to Anderson.

"Ya know Bully, if you thought I was just going to roll over and play dead than you win the dumbass of the year award. You walk around here, acting like you're better than everyone else when you're not. You're nothing more than a coward. I can only hope you're dumb enough to get involved in the main event. Hell, I will be on commentary if you want to fight me. Of course, if you just want to sit in your little clubhouse that's fine too. I love ransacking clubhouses looking for cowards like you" I stated, which caused the crowd to give me a loud cheer. The Aces music hit, and Bully came down to the ring with Devon and Doc.

"Ya fucked up kid. Not only did ya not let Anderson pin ya, ya made that blonde bitch a target of ours. Guess ya didn't care about her enough to keep her safe from us" Bully said to me, which made me give him an evil smile as the new Main Event Mafia song played and they came down, with Taryn in the middle.

"Bully, I knew your plan the second you gave me that deal. I took out your VP, and I will take you out after Bischoff. You and your little group don't scare me."

"Ya may say that now, but understand that we have no problems with puttin her through a table while you're forced to watch."

"Bully, you're nothin but talk. We all know that you couldn't have beaten Sting had it not been for the wanna be bikers. And I can guarantee that next week, not only will you lose your Heavyweight title, but Bitchoff and No Balls Brisco will lose their tag titles." Bully decided to leave after I said that, and the Mafia took their seats ringside to watch the match. I sat right next to Mike Tenay at the announcer's table, and I shook hands with Mike.

"Matt, it's great to have you on commentary" Mike said to me.

"Yeah, let the dumbest person in the world sit next to you Tenay" Taz remarked, which made me smirk.

"It's great to be on commentary Mike, and Taz, Bully Ray isn't here" I replied, which made Taz get furious. We were going back and forth during the main event until the Aces music hit. Taryn was paralyzed with fear, and I was just smiling. I saw Bully Ray, Devon, Doc, and Knux coming through the crowd. When I tried to stand, I felt someone grabbing my neck. I turned to see Bischoff, and he was just shaking his head while I kept my smile. I took the headset off and asked for a mic.

"You know Bully, I owe you one for once again proving your stupidity" I said, as I hit Bischoff with the mic. I started walking towards the ring when the rest of the Aces came out, minus Anderson who had to be taken to a hospital. Bully didn't look fazed by my statements at all.

"You see, I expected you to do something like this and I decided to plan for it. I know Devon has probably seen him enough, but then again we haven't" I finished as Abyss's music started playing, causing Taryn to get out of the ring. Me and the rest of the Mafia got into a brawl with the Aces, and I called Sting over to help me with a 3D on Bully. After that was done, I saw Taryn get pushed off the ladder by Gail, and she crashed through a table. I carried Taryn to the trainer's office.

"She is going to be fine. She will have some bruising, but that will go away over time. Just let her rest, as her body will probably be sore from this match" the trainer said, to which I nodded and saw that Taryn was looking at me. I expect her to yell at me for putting her in harm's way, but instead she just gave me a hug. I returned the hug, just not as tightly as she was hugging me. I heard someone knock on the door and I opened it to see a camera man there wanting an interview for the Inside Impact show on YouTube.

"What is your plan of action going into your tables match next week?"

"Pretty simple, I want it to be contested under elimination rules, so that way I can show Bully that the end of the Aces started with an Assassin. No one is better at fighting fire with fire than an Assassin" I replied, and closed the door. Taryn got her bags, and we walked to my car. I had this feeling that when we got back to the hotel room she was going to give me a piece of her mind.

"I can't believe you didn't give me a heads up on your plan!" Taryn told me, and I was just there trying my hardest not to laugh at how cute she looked when her nose wrinkled.

"This isn't funny Matt!" She picked up on me trying not to laugh, which is actually pretty nice.

"I'm not laughing at the situation. I know I should have told you, and that you could have been seriously injured. I was laughing at how cute you look when your nose wrinkles" I told her, and she was blushing at it and surprised.

"Why is it that you can make me forget being mad at people just by saying something nice?" She asked me, and I gave her a small shrug. We ended up just watching Bambi for the rest of the night. Taryn fell asleep half way through the movie, and I took the time to admire her. She was absolutely gorgeous, and in my honest opinion, perfect. When I picked her up, she snuggled up closer to my chest which made me blush. When I placed her on the bed, I gave her a kiss on her forehead and covered her up. My phone lit up, and I saw I got another text from the number that my father had all those years ago.

"Hope you don't end up causing that blonde slut to have an early death, like you caused your mother and brothers." Why the hell couldn't I have a normal family?

**Well, the latest chapter is up, and we are officially one chapter away from Destination X. The next chapter will be a quick little 4th of July chapter that will lead into Destination X. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	11. Chapter 11

Today was the 4th of July, and Taryn wanted to go to have a picnic at the park in Louisville. Well, at least that's what I thought. We have been here for half an hour, and so far the only person Taryn was talking to was someone who looked like he was just trying to get lucky, and it was pissing me off. I've seen this before with one of my old friends. She used to talk to a lot of people, but one day someone felt the need to use her. Long story short, she ended up committing suicide because of people calling her a whore and things like that. Taryn started to walk back towards me.

"That guy is annoying" Taryn muttered.

"Well you seemed like you were enjoying him being annoying" I said, in a sort of pissed off voice.

"I wasn't. I wanted to get away from him, but I didn't want to come off as rude" she shot back.

"Yeah, sure. You spent the last half hour talking to him."

"Do you just want to go back to the hotel?" She asked me in a hurt tone of voice. I just fucked it up with her. Just fucking great.

"Why not" I replied. We walked back to the red grand am that I rented in total silence. I really wanted to punch myself for fucking our friendship up, and she was probably trying her best not to break down.

"Where do you think your goin with my girl?" A voice said from behind us. I turned, and sure enough there was the person Taryn spent the entire time talking to.

"Two things. Number one is that she is NOT your girl, she is my girl. Number two, we're going back to the hotel we're staying at. I won't hesitate to knock you out cold if you try anything funny" I absent-mindedly replied, looking him in the eyes. He was around 6''3, and it looked like he weighed 250 or 260 pounds. He may be stronger than me, but that never really mattered to me.

"She needs a real man, not a puny kid who abuses her. I happen to be that man" he replied, giving Taryn a cocky grin. I couldn't believe that he accused me of being an abusive asshole towards Taryn.

"He is NOT abusive! As a matter of fact, he's more of a man than you are you roid freak!" Taryn exclaimed, surprising me and the other guy. The guy went to grab Taryn's hand, but I caught it instead and gave him my best death glare.

"You should get the fuck out of here before I decide to use you as a punching bag" I told him in a cold voice.

"Try it, then after I kick your ass that blonde bitch is going to learn what it's like to have a real man in her life" he replied, with a cocky grin. I threw a punch that hit him straight in the jaw and it sent him to the ground. Taryn and I just started to walk towards the car. When we got into the car, Taryn gave me a quick peck on the cheek which surprised me.

"What was that for?" I asked her, with shock in my voice. She gave me a shy smile, which made my heart beat faster and put butterflies in my stomach.

"That was for protecting me. Also, I didn't realize that I was your girl" she replied, with a tiny blush on her cheeks. I'm sure tomatoes wish they could be as red as my face though.

"I...uhh... said that?" I asked her with a hint of worry in my voice, and she gave me a small nod and she still had that shy smile on her face.

"Of course, I understand that you did it to try and get the guy to leave sooner" she told me, and I just nodded. I'm not exactly the best person with feelings, but I have to admit that Taryn was able to make  
me want to talk about my feelings. Taryn put a CD in to the player, and ironically the very first song that played was her theme song. She just shyly smiled at it, and when we reached the hotel, we decided to spend the rest of the 4th in our room. When it was time for fireworks, we stood out on the balcony of our room to watch them. Taryn once again fell asleep in my arms, so I carried her to the bed and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. She just frowned and scooted closer to where I was standing. I gave her a peck on the cheek, and she just scooted closer to me. I rolled my eyes, and had a smile on my face as I gave her a peck on her lips, which made her smile.

"So much for you falling asleep in my arms" I said to myself, not expecting Taryn to open her eyes a little bit.

"I was just enjoying you giving me a sense of safety. Although, I did enjoy those three pecks" she replied, with a smile on her face. I climbed into bed with her, and as she snuggled up closer, I let out a content sigh.

"Good night my Matty bear" Taryn mumbled, which caused me to blush a little bit. I kissed the top of her head.

"Good night my Tar bear" I replied, while she snuggled up closer to me. Even though I was a dumbass earlier, I loved how she could forgive me so easily. She truly is an angel.

* * *

"Welcome to Destination X, live on Spike TV. My broadcast partner isn't here right now because of an emergency, but I would like to take this time to introduce his replacement until he gets back, Matt Striker." Mike Tenay said.

"Thanks Mike, it's great to be here and tonight, we have the X-Division title up for grabs in an Ultimate X match. More than that though, we have the TV title being defended in a last man standing match, the tag titles in an elimination tables match, and as we all saw last week, it will be Chris Sabin taking on Bully Ray for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the evening" Striker finished. This was my first chance at gold, and you better believe that I am going to give it my all tonight.

**Well, the latest chapter is up, and we are officially at Destination X. I hope you all enjoyed the little bit of jealousy and romance in the chapter. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	12. Chapter 12

**This is a fair warning: this chapter will contain a lot of swearing, and will contain some talk of suicide. Understand that this is just a story, and if you ever feel like that to talk to a friend. Trust me, it helps more than a lot of people would ever realize. On with the story  
**

* * *

"Welcome_ to Destination X, live on Spike TV. My broadcast partner isn't here right now because of an emergency, but I would like to take this time to introduce his replacement until he gets back, Matt Striker." Mike Tenay said._

_"Thanks Mike, it's great to be here and tonight, we have the X-Division title up for grabs in an Ultimate X match. More than that though, we have the TV title being defended in a last man standing match, the tag titles in an elimination tables match, and as we all saw last week, it will be Chris Sabin taking on Bully Ray for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the evening" Striker finished. This was my first chance at gold, and you better believe that I am going to give it my all tonight._

* * *

The first match that took place was the TV title match, which featured Christian Cage taking on Devon. Me, Chris, and Alex were watching the match when Chris's cell went off. He had a look of pure anger on his face.

"What happened?" I asked, worried about him. I still remember the time they helped save my life from going completely down the shitter.

"Someone took Velvet" he replied, and stood up. He gave us a small nod, signaling that he was going to look for his girlfriend. I gave small sigh and went to get some fresh air after Devon retained the TV title, due to interference. I ran into Taryn, and she looked like she just saw a ghost.

"Hey Taryn" I said to her, causing her to turn around in surprise.

"Hey yourself. How are you?" She asked me, with a concerned tone of voice, which was really making me worry about her.

"I'm good, what about you?"

"I'm good. I just wish I was involved in a match tonight."

"Don't worry. You'll be in matches soon enough."

"I'm just worried that I might not be as good as I was at Slammiversary."

"I'm sure you'll be-" was all I said before I was hit in the back of my head with something. As I was getting beat down, I saw that Taryn had a guilty look on her face. Someone pulled me to my feet, and I turned to see that it was Anderson.

"Remember me punk? Let me refreash your memory. You took me out of action for the past few weeks, and you can expect me to make your life a living hell" he told me, before hitting a mic check on the concrete floor.

"You did the smart thing by helping us jump him" Anderson told Taryn, who had a sad look on her face.

"Just live up to your end of the bargain" she replied, in a pissed off tone of voice. Anderson just smirked at it.

"Don't worry, we'll release Velvet before the end of the night. Can't wait to see his reaction to what you did though. That will be good" he said before walking off with Doc, Knux, and Devon behind him. She just broke down crying and helped the trainers carry me to their office.

* * *

I woke up to someone raising their voice, and a soft but constant sob near by. I turned my head, and saw that Taryn had tears in her eyes.

"Taryn, what's wrong?" I asked her in a concerned voice, only to have Chris turn and face me.

"I'll tell you what's wrong. The Aces and Eights took Velvet, and used Taryn to help them in an effort to get them to release her" he stated, in a pissed off voice. I saw that Taryn was heading out the door.

"What did they want her to do?" I asked Chris, in a worried voice. I swear to God if one of them broke one of her finger nails or did anything else to her, I was going to break a few more necks.

"They used her to jump you."

"What do you mean?"

"Anderson came back, and while you were talking to Taryn, he had his friends jump you. He then said something to you, and hit you with a mic check afterwards. The doctors said that you broke your ribs and got busted open."

"What match is happening right now?"

"It's the tables match, why?" I gave him an evil smirk.

"It's simple, I'm going out there, winning the tag team titles, and making sure Anderson stays the fuck away from Taryn." I left to go to the ring, getting some surprised looks. Taryn, of course, had a worried look on her face, and tried to stop me. That didn't stop me, and I went out wearing a Linkin Park shirt, my favorite pair of sneakers, and my favorite pair of jean shorts. I saw that Brisco was mocking Alex, so I knew who I was going for first.

* * *

"Mike, isn't that Matt Dixon?" Striker asked Tenay, who replied "yes it is. We know for a fact that he suffered broken ribs from the assault by the Aces and Eights! Why the hell isn't he in a hospital!?" Dixon just went into the ring and hit Brisco with a clothesline to the back of his head. Bischoff turned to face Dixon, and Dixon hit him with a quick jab, then followed it up with a big boot. Brisco got up, but Shelley hit him with a kick to the back of his left knee, causing him to stumble. Dixon turned and hit him with a belly to belly suplex, and got up holding his injured ribs.

"This is crazy! He shouldn't be out here!" Tenay exclaimed, which made Dixon flip him off. Dixon helped Shelley to his feet, then hit him in the chest.

"ALEX!" Dixon exclaimed. Alex looked around, before asking "WHAT?" Dixon just gave an evil smirk as he said "GET THE TABLES!" Alex went out to grab the tables while Dixon kept Bischoff and Brisco down. After Alex set a table up in the ring, Dixon waited for Brisco to get to his feet before he and Alex hit him with the 3D. Dixon got up slowly and held his ribs as Christy Hemme said that Brisco was eliminated. Dixon set up the other table outside, and pulled a ladder out from underneath the ring. He set it up on the outside, and when Bischoff got to his feet, he nailed him with a clothesline. Dixon then whipped him into the corner near the ladder, and placed him on the top turnbuckle. Dixon hit an enziguri on Bischoff before he climbed the ladder to get to the same height as Bischoff was. He picked him off, and hit him with a TKO through the table.

"OH MY GOD!" Striker exclaimed, as the ref went over to check on both Dixon and Bischoff. Dixon got to his feet, and the ref rang the bell. "Here are your winners, and NEW world tag team champions, the team of Alex Shelley and Matt Dixon!" Christy told the crowd, who started to blow the roof off the place. Dixon asked for a mic.

* * *

"Cut the damn music!" I exclaimed, as I put the tag title on my shoulder. "You see, I was hired to take a certain asshole out a few weeks back, but he made a... surprise return so to say." I paused to gather my breath. "Now, most people who suffer broken ribs bitch about it not being fair, and then they go and get their asses kicked the following week." I needed to gather some more breath, since broken ribs make it hard to breathe. "I'm not like most though, as I know that this was all planned out, using Taryn to force my guard down. That was your biggest mistake ever!" I paused to calm myself down. "Aces, allow me to say this: in two weeks, I will be hosting the funeral for your vice president and any other member who gets in my way of revenge." I paused, as the crowd started to cheer for me. "No one uses Taryn. Those who do-" I started, as I turned to see Bischoff stretchered out "end up on my hit list" I finished, and dropped the mic. The crowd was cheering like hell for me, which made me smile. At least, I was smiling until I saw that my father was in the front row with a cup of alcohol. If it wasn't, then I would be surprised. When I got backstage, I was greeted with a big hug, which was hurting my ribs.

"Taryn... ribs are... broken" I struggled to get out, and she immediately let me go.

"I'm so sorry!" She said, in a quick but worried voice. I just gave her a small smile and a quick hug. She smiled brightly at me, which made my heart skip a few beats. We started to walk towards the green room, to watch the X-Division title gauntlet featuring Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt, Manik(formerly Suicide, but new name and ring gear) and Kenny King. Petey Williams won the match, and Taryn was happy he won. I, on the other hand, was just looking down at my hands in deep thought. 'how the hell did a broken kid from Detroit like me even make it this far?' I was shaken out of my thoughts by Taryn, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Matt, are you okay? I have been calling your name for a few minutes" she told me, and I just gave her a small nod of my head. I know that my damn father would be waiting by my car, since he always seems to know which one is mine. I saw that it was the main event match, and that Chris had full control over the match until Anderson showed up with Velvet. I grabbed my lead pipe and went out, and I hit Anderson with the pipe in the back of his head. I just started to lay into him with some ferocious punches, until I picked him up and power-bombed him from the stage to the concrete floor.

Bully was distracted long enough for Chris to hit him with the Cradle-shock. "1...2.." Bully managed to kick out, and as Chris went up for a high risk move, Bully hit the top rope which caused Chris to get hung up on the top turnbuckle. Bully then hit him with a Bully cutter from the top, and pinned him to retain his World Heavyweight Championship. I walked towards the ring, and he fled like a little bitch. I grabbed the mic that a cameraman handed to me, and Bully took the one Christy had.

"Who do you think you are?" Bully asked me, and I just gave him an evil smile.

"I'm the person who your little group pissed off!" I replied, making him angry.

"No one disrespects Team 3D, especially not a coward like you!"

"Oh really? I'm a coward?"

"Yes, that's what I said."

"Funny, cause I don't remember using a knockout as a hostage in order for your group to jump me. Nor do I remember taking a knockout as a hostage in an attempt to get out of a match. Then again, I'm also a real man, unlike you so I should have expected that." The crowd laughed at that, and Bully just looked like he was ready to kill me.

"I am the World Heavyweight Champion of this company, which makes me more of a man than you!"

"Why don't you prove it next month? You and me in a ladder match. If I win, your group stays away from Taryn and the other knockouts and I get a free title shot at any title that your group has."

"What's in it for me?"

"Pretty simple: I end all ties with the Main Event Mafia, and if I ever face a member of your soon to be deceased group, I must lay down and let them pin me" I looked to the ground as I continued "if I don't, then you get to make me watch as you put Taryn through a table." Bully just smirked at me.

"That works for me."

"Since you already agreed, I want to let you know that no one is allowed ringside for our match. No Mafia, no Aces, which includes Taz, no one. Personally, I can't wait to kick. Your. Ass."

"You're gonna lose, and I am going to enjoy putting you through a table."

"Bully, a few years back you had a shirt that said 'Death takes tables.' Remember?"

"What does that have to do with this?" I just smirked at him.

"It's simple: the reason Death takes tables is cause I send my victims through them. Next month, it will be no different." I dropped the mic and walked to the back with an evil smile on my face. Me and Taryn were walking towards my car when I saw a familiar figure standing by it. Taryn noticed the figure as well.

"Matt, who is that by your car?" She asked me, and I let out a small sigh.

"That's my father. We haven't spoken to each other in thirteen years" I replied, and she gave me a sad look. She must have gotten that I didn't want to talk to him, or about him. When we got to the car, Taryn just went over to the passenger side door while I tried to go and unlock the doors.

"You ain't got nothin to say to yer old man ya selfish kid?" He slurred out. I turned to face him, and I had to keep my emotions in check, which is going to be hard.

"Nope, now get away from my car" I replied, causing him to let out a bitter laugh.

"Ya still the same piece of shit kid who only cares for himself. I thought I raised ya better than that."

"You didn't raise me though. You were nothing but an alcoholic who felt the need to abuse me for fun."

"I figured that woulda made ya stop bein a little pussy, but apparently it failed. Ya keep on thinkin ya gonna become this big star, but ya won't. The only thing you'll ever be is a worthless piece of shit who shoulda been aborted." I was trying my hardest not to let any emotions show on my face, but I was failing, and he picked up on it.

"Ya caused your own mother to die, then ya lied to ya brothers who died comin to 'save' ya from a lovin home. Then after ya did that, ya ran away like a pussy. Now how long till ya catch that blonde slut fuckin one of ya so called friends huh?" Taryn walked up, and put a hand on my father's shoulder and slapped him the second he turned around.

"I would NEVER sleep with any of his friends, and he is a star. You're to blind to see it!" She exclaimed at him, which caused Styles to walk over to use and my father to slap Taryn.

"Ya better keep ya mouth shut ya God damn bitch!" He yelled at her, and he turned to face me with a sick smile on his face. I went to punch him, but he moved out of the way before busting my lip open with a couple of punches.

"I knew ya were still the most useless person in the world. If ya were dead, everyone would be better off. Ya are nothing but a pussy" he went to leave, but Styles managed to knock him out and helped me up.

"You okay man?" He asked, and I gave him a small nod. Taryn got up, got in the car when I unlocked the doors. We drove back to the hotel in complete silence, and watched TV the same way before she told me she was going to bed. While she was sleeping, I just looked over at her with tears in my eyes. Like I said before, I'm just a broken kid from Detroit. I shouldn't even know Taryn. She should be with the perfect guy, but I was holding her back. In that moment, I decided to leave and let her find someone who was more deserving of her than me. All I knew, was that if I was dead then Taryn would be better off, and I wanted what was best for her, and that was for me to commit suicide, and make sure she wasn't the one who found my body.

'mom, Tony, James. I will be with you in a few hours. I am sorry about this Taryn, but it is for your benefit' I thought with tears in my eyes. I didn't think my father's words would have this much effect on me, but they did. And it proved that I was too damn weak to actually protect Taryn. What I didn't expect, is that someone saw me leaving.

**Well, I finally got to the whole father part. I will say this real quick: the reason why I did this was to emphasize the name of the story. You will find out why later on in the story, but for now just understand that this is the first of many problems for him to overcome with some help. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit. Also, another shout-out to nightmare898 for reminding me of the shirts that Bully Ray and Devon used to wear.**


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter starts in Taryn's POV and changes to Matt's later on. On with the story  
**

* * *

"_You're nothing more than a useless bitch! No one will ever love!" He spat venomously at me. I tried to run but I couldn't. "No matter what you say, you know deep down that I'm right. That's why you always come crawling back to me" he continued, and I started to cry. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to be with Matt. "Quit crying bitch!" He exclaimed as he hit me._

I want my Matty boo!" I cried out in pain, which made him give me an evil smile.

"Too bad I killed him" he told me as I looked at him with wide eyes. He brought out a butcher knife and went to stab me...

* * *

I shot straight up, looking for Matt and making sure it was just a dream. I got out of bed and saw that I was in my pajamas, and a note waiting on the nightstand from Matt._  
_  
**Dear Taryn, I am writing this note to inform you that I left the hotel to go to the park a few blocks down. Don't bother looking for me, cause odds are that the only thing you would find is a body. I never wanted you to get hurt because of me or my past, and I hope you know that these past few months I've spent with you has been the best time I ever had. My only wish for you is that you move on from me, and find someone else who is strong enough to protect you from everything. I am sorry, but it's better this way.  
Love Matt**

I ran out the door, and ran down the stairs to the lobby. I ran into Allen, who grabbed my arm to prevent me from running out the door.

"Slow down Taryn, if you need to get somewhere, let me give you a ride" he said, and I just nodded. "Where to?" He asked me.

"The park a few blocks down, and STEP ON IT!" I exclaimed at him, making him just nod. I felt tears forming in my eyes, and Allen noticed it as well.

"Taryn, what's wrong?" I started to sob.

"Matt... he left a note... stating that he was leaving." I managed to get out through sobs.

"What do you mean leave?"

"He... I think he is going to kill himself" I replied, trying to keep my voice from cracking. Why? Why does he think this is the best for either of us? 'Please, just be alive Matty boo' I thought to myself, with tears in my eyes. We arrived at the park, and before Allen could even turn his car off, I took off. After a few minutes, I saw a familiar figure sitting on the park bench. It was my Matty boo. I ran over towards him, and saw that he had a butcher knife in his hand. I ran at full speed towards him.

"MATT NO!" I exclaimed, and as soon as I saw him look up at me, I jumped and gave him a tight hug, and positioned my body over as many lethal spots as I possibly could. I let my tears flow into his shoulder.

* * *

**Matt's POV**

I was surprised to see Taryn running towards me, but even more so when I felt the hug she gave me and her tears in my shoulder.

"What are you doing here Taryn?" I asked her, hoarsely. I spent the past half hour trying to talk myself out of doing this, but I couldn't.

"Matt, please don't do this to me" she said, which made my heart break.

"Taryn, why bother with me?"

"Because I love you! How you're always there for me, how you always make my fears go away, and most of all, YOU make me feel safe!" Taryn exclaimed at me, and needless to say I was surprised at her declaration of love. My mind suddenly went back to what my father and ex last said to me.

_"You're just a failure! You'll never be anything! It would be best if you just killed yourself!"_

"Taryn, how can you love me?" I asked her, in a broken voice. She looked up at me, with a small smile on her face.

"Isn't it obvious? I can love you because I get to be me whenever I'm around you and you always go along with it" she replied with her smile growing bigger.

"No, how can you love me? I'm just a broken kid from Detroit. Their are others who could easily protect you better than me." She looked at me with a smile.

"But none of them could ever make me as happy as you do Matty boo. You're my broken knight, and I want to be the princess who fixes the broken knight." I just gave her a small but sad look, and Allen tapped me on the shoulder.

"If I didn't drive her here, she would have ran here. You can count on her to make sure you get fixed and forgets all the pain" he told me, and I gave him a small smile.

"Can we go back to the hotel? It's pretty windy out here" Taryn asked us, and we just walked to Allen's car.

* * *

We got into the room, and I just gave a short sigh. I realized that I was broken, and for the first time, I felt like I belonged somewhere. Taryn immediately looked at me with worry in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked, and I gave her a kiss on her lips. When I pulled away from the kiss, I gave her a genuine smile.

"I am now, and Taryn? I love you too" I replied, and she just kissed me again.

"Can we get some sleep now? I'm tired" she asked me, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did you have a nightmare?" She looked away shyly, before replying.

"Yes I did."

"What was it about?"

"My ex returned, and I tried running but that didn't work. Then he said he killed you, and wanted to kill me with a butcher knife." I instantly regretted trying to run away tonight.

"I'm sorry about not being there for you."

"Don't be, although if you try that again, I will handcuff out hands together" Taryn told me, with a smile on her face. I started to smile as well.

"You're the best girlfriend a guy could ever hope for" I told her, and she started to blush.

"You're the best boyfriend a girl could ever hope for. Now can we get some sleep? I'm pwetty sweepy" she replied, and I picked her up and carried her to the bed before she realized something.

"Matt, did you change me into my pajamas?" She asked me, and I started to blush furiously.

"Yeah. I didn't think you would have been comfortable sleeping in your jeans" I replied, as she blushed and looked angrily at me.

"MATTHEW ANTHONY CARTER!" I gulped.

**Well, I finally got to the end of the father part, and I wanted to say that this is the very beginning of the romance between Matt and Taryn. I also want to add in this little piece, I am using the actual first and middle name of my brother. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit. Also, I just want to say that Destination X was pretty dam good, and I'm glad Chris Sabin is the champion now. Loved the whole "underdog" story they told in the ring. That is what wrestling is all about imho.**


	14. Chapter 14

**This is the after math after the whole father fiasco, and is in Matt's POV.  
**

* * *

_I picked her up and carried her to the bed before she realized something._

_"Matt, did you change me into my pajamas?" She asked me, and I started to blush furiously._

_"Yeah. I didn't think you would have been comfortable sleeping in your jeans" I replied, as she blushed and looked angrily at me._

_"MATTHEW ANTHONY CARTER!" I gulped._

* * *

During the night, I heard Taryn give a little 'eep' at the thunder. Yeah, it started to storm an hour after Taryn and I made our declaration of love and became boyfriend and girlfriend. I was still surprised to be using the word 'love' after everything I went through in my life. My first girlfriend turned out to be an overly attached girlfriend and a psycho. My second girlfriend fucked at least half of my friends and kept on saying that I wasn't going to make it. Taryn though? She just gave me a... 'friendly reminder' to NEVER change her into her pajamas, otherwise known as my old sweat pants and an old shirt of mine. I was NOT going to go through her bags, cause knowing my luck she actually would have made sure any kids of ours was going to feel the pain of a knee to the balls. Unfortunately for me, Taryn decided against snuggling up as close as she could tonight, and I was a little sad at it...

At least, she wasn't until the thunder. She has a fear of storms, and I had no clue why besides for the whole Hurricane Katrina incident back in 2006. Not to mention, every time there is a clap of thunder, Taryn starts shaking for a couple of seconds before burying herself deep into my chest and almost pushing me off the bed.

"Taryn, do you want me to sing you a song to make you sleep?" I asked her, and she rapidly shook her head no.

"Just promise me that you'll stay by my side" she replied, and I gave her a gentle kiss.

"I will be. No matter what happens Tar-bear, I will be right there for you." She snuggled up even closer before giving me a quick kiss.

"Thank you" she said to me, and we both fell into a peaceful sleep. It felt nice having her here with me, and I know that a girl like her is impossible to find.

"Wake up you lovebirds! We have a big day planned, and we want to celebrate the fact that you two stopped being blind" Alex called through the door, and I could hear Chris just laughing.

"Matt, is it just me, or is Alex really trying to make one of us kill him?" Taryn asked me in a sleepy but playful tone of voice, and I cracked a smile at it.

"Don't worry about him. He does this all the time, and I manage to keep myself from killing him" I replied, in the same voice.

"Are you two having morning sex?" Chris asked through the door, which was met with two loud "CHRIS!" exclimations, and Alex just laughing. Me and Taryn just looked at each other before getting out of bed with matching blushes on our faces. When we opened the door, we could see that both had red marks on their faces, and shit eating grins. Me, on the other hand, had thought of at least three hundred ways to kill them at that moment.

"Good morning. So, when do we find out which one of us is the God father of your kid and or kids?" Alex asked me.

"It really depends on if one of you... mysteriously vanishes without a trace" I replied, causing them all to laugh.

"Figured as much. By the way, we're going shopping today, so hope you're ready for it" Chris stated, and I just let out a sigh. This is going to be a long day.

* * *

It's now two in the afternoon, and we were finally having lunch. We went out for breakfast before we went shopping, and so far Taryn was buying shirts she thought were cute. I was just... admiring her and how angelic she looked. Alex and Chris saw it, and started to hum a wedding song I think. Needless to say, we started to argue like friends do. Velvet and Hannah thought it was funny. Taryn, not so much. After a few minutes, we all felt a knee go below the belt and Taryn was just smiling.

After lunch, we went to a mall for more shopping, which was starting to make me bored. Taryn was extremely happy about it, so I was glad she was having fun. I used the time to reflect on everything that has transpired over these past few days, and I had a small smile on my face when I remembered Taryn running up to me, and using my lone weakness against me: her getting hurt.

"Matt? Are you okay?" Taryn asked me, shaking me out of my thoughts. I gave her a genuine smile, before nodding my head.

"Okay, well I was wondering if you were up for being out a few hours more?"

"Sure Taryn. Anything for you" I replied, which caused her to blush and give me a quick 'thank you' hug. After we were done shopping, Alex, Chris, Hannah, and Velvet all decided to call it a night as me and Taryn went out for dinner. We went to a fancy Italian restaurant, and we started talking about her past. In that time, I learned that she didn't have a great relationship with her mother, and her father walked out when she was around two years old.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to watch a movie or two. Taryn had gotten a romantic movie she had always wanted to see on DVD, and she got one of her favorite movies. It was shaping up to be a great night until someone decided to be a pervert and grabbed Taryn's ass. I turned and the guy was looking at her ass, which made me clear my throat. He just had a smug look on his face.

"What are you looking at?" I asked him in a level voice.

"I'm lookin at the girl who should leave with me so she can feel what it's like with a real man" he replied, and I knew it was Taryn's ex who sent him. The whole bs 'real man' line was their saying.

"If you know what's good for you, you would ask for her mercy because I can guarantee that you won't get any from me."

"Really? You think your puny ass can hang with a man of muscle like me?"

"I know I can." He started to walk towards us, and when he was close enough, I lashed out with a strong right hand that caught him right in the cheek. Me and Taryn then left to go and watch her movies. Of course, being the gentleman I am, when we got to our room, I carried her bridal style into the room and allowed her to use me as her pillow for both movies.

"Matty-boo, do you know where my pajamas are? You know, the ones you changed me into" she asked me, and I chuckled a little bit before going to my bag and pulling out a shirt and the same sweat pants I put her in. She started to blush after realizing I changed her into some of my clothes.

"Wait, I was wearing your clothes!? I thought you changed me into the pajamas I had brought a few weeks back" she told me, with the blush still on her face. I walked over to her, and gave her a long kiss before the need for oxygen forced us apart. We were both there with huge smiles on our faces.

"I thought you would be more comfortable in my clothes than her actual pajamas" I replied, which caused her to kiss me.

"I was, and I'm glad you're going to be there holding me tonight. I love the protectiveness that being in your arms brings." She said, as we put in the romantic movie first. Taryn fell asleep first, so I made her lay on me before I started to get sleepy. After it went off, I carried her to the bed where I set her down to where she was facing me in the bed so I could give her a good night kiss. She snuggled up as close as she could, as I started to wonder what I would say at the Aces funeral. Plus, how will I be able to beat Bully in the ladder match?

* * *

**Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	15. Chapter 15

_"Matty-boo, do you know where my pajamas are? You know, the ones you changed me into" she asked me, and I chuckled a little bit before going to my bag and pulling out a shirt and the same sweat pants I put her in. She started to blush after realizing I changed her into some of my clothes._

_"Wait, I was wearing your clothes!? I thought you changed me into the pajamas I had brought a few weeks back" she told me, with the blush still on her face. I walked over to her, and gave her a long kiss before the need for oxygen forced us apart. We were both there with huge smiles on our faces._

_"I thought you would be more comfortable in my clothes than her actual pajamas" I replied, which caused her to kiss me._

_"I was, and I'm glad you're going to be there holding me tonight. I love the protectiveness that being in your arms brings." She said, as we put in the romantic movie first. Taryn fell asleep first, so I made her lay on me before I started to get sleepy. After it went off, I carried her to the bed where I set her down to where she was facing me in the bed so I could give her a good night kiss. She snuggled up as close as she could, as I started to wonder what I would say at the Aces funeral. Plus, how will I be able to beat Bully in the ladder match?_

* * *

I woke up to the sound of water running. I started to get changed, and barely got my pants on in time for the bathroom door to open.

"Matt, are you awake?" Taryn asked me, as she came out of the bathroom in only a towel. I started to blush at the sight of her in a towel.

"Y-yeah" I stammered out, as she quickly went back into the bathroom to get her clothes on. Her cheeks were even redder than mine, and as she turned around to open the bedroom door, I pulled her into a hug. She relaxed into it, and I carried her back to the bed.

"Lay down. I'll go and get you some breakfast" I said to her, and she just nodded her head. I left to go to a diner, and I got some of her favorite food for breakfast. When I got back, she was surprised that I got her her favorite breakfast.

"Any reason you got me my favorite food?" She asked me, and I just gave her a grin.

"Yeah. I wanted you to have the best breakfast you had in a while" I replied, causing her to start blushing. She gave me a long kiss, and when we parted, we both had huge smiles on our faces. Her birthday was in three weeks, and I was going to give her the best birthday party ever. After we were done eating, we left and went to the arena for the show.

* * *

When it was time for the funeral segment, I was dressed in all black, and Taryn had a black dress on. I would be lying if I said that she looked hot in it. When Lose Yourself hit, the crowd blew the roof off the place, and I went and held the ropes open for Taryn. She gave me a playful roll of the eyes, and when we got in, I was given the mic.

"Today, we are laying to rest the group known as the Aces and Eights, who for too damn long, ran rough shot over the company. Of course, their VP Anderson and Garrett Bischoff have already found themselves buried due to being on my hit-list. Such a shame, as they were both fun to test my new move on" I said, as the rest of the Mafia just looked on. Taryn had a small smile on her face, and I faced her before continuing. "Now then, in two weeks, at Hardcore Justice, me and the president will be involved in a ladder match, where when I win, I can challenge for ANY title currently held by the dead group. This was brought on by Bully being a dumbass and threatening me with Taryn's well being, so I can promise you all this: Bully Ray will not only lose the match, but he is going to lose his title" I finished, and the crowd was cheering me on. That was when the Aces came out to annoy us.

"You seem to forget that we have killed every damn hero in this company, and at Hardcore Justice, we will include you to that list boy. So you should do the smart thing, and beg for our forgiveness" Devon said, and I started to laugh.

"Me? Beg for your forgiveness? This isn't a comedy club, this is Impact Wrestling. Ya know, where cowards like you get their asses kicked by everyone in the damn building" I replied, which earned a lot of cheers from the crowd. Devon just looked pissed at me, but Bully grabbed the mic from his hand.

"Listen here kid. I will give you one chance to forfeit the match. If you don't take it, then not only will you LOSE that match, we are going to put that blonde bitch through a table" he said, and I just gave him an evil smile.

"Bully, you can take your offer, and shove it straight up your fat ass! Hardcore Justice will be the END of your pathetic little group!" I exclaimed, causing the crowd to blow the roof of the place. Kurt took the mic from my hand, and had a huge smile on his face.

"Not only will that be happening, at Hardcore Justice, the Main Event Mafia will take on the Aces and Eights in a ten man tag match where the person who gets pinned is out of TNA FOREVER!" Kurt exclaimed, as the Aces agreed to it by running into the ring. When the dust cleared, it was just the Mafia standing in the ring when the lights went low. We turned towards the ramp, and there stood the MMA legend Tito Ortiz. He stood there, arms crossed and a small smirk forming on his face. If looks could kill, then Rampage would have killed him.

* * *

"I'm going to go and change out of this dress" Taryn said to me after we got backstage.

"Don't change. Let's head out to dinner first" I replied, causing her to give me a cute little smile.

"Okay, just meet me by the car. I need to get my bags" she said, before kissing me on the cheek and leaving. I walked out to my car, and I heard a familiar voice call my name out.

"Matty, wait up!" I turned around, and was face to face with my most recent ex girlfriend. She was 5''4, had ice cold blue eyes, had black hair, and a light tan. I rolled my eyes at her, causing her to pout.

"That's not a good way to treat someone who wants to fix our relationship" she told me, and I let out a bitter chuckle.

"What relationship? The one where I busted my ass chasing a dream, while you fucked half of my friends? Or the one where every time I was close to succeeding at getting a contract you ended up screwing me over by ripping them up before I got home?" I asked her, and she had a fake look of hurt on her face.

"Matty, I did no such things! I truly love you, and want to get back together." She then ran her finger up and down my chest in a seductive manner, before continuing. "You know you want me more than that blonde slut." I pushed her hand away from my chest, unknowingly making Taryn start to cry.

"I don't give a damn about you anymore, and Taryn has already made me happier than I ever was with your cheating ass Kelly. Now get the fuck out of my face" I told her, causing her to give me an evil glare.

"You will regret ever saying that, and believe me when I say that karma is going to get you good" she replied, as she backed away from me. Taryn started to walk up, trying to stop crying. I turned and saw that she was crying, so I pulled her into a hug.

"Do you still want to go out to dinner?" She asked me, and I shook my head no.

"I want you to be happy when we do go out to dinner" I replied, with a sincere smile. She returned the smile, but I knew it was forced and was saving the discussion for the hotel room.

* * *

"Tar-bear, we need to talk" I said to her after we got into the room. She turned to face me, with sadness in her eyes.

"What do we need to talk about?" She asked me, with sadness in her voice.

"I want to know why you gave me a forced smile a few minutes ago." She hesitated a little bit before answering.

"I thought you were going to take that other girl out." I gave her a look of both shock and hurt at that assumption.

"Why would you think I would EVER cheat on you?"

"I don't know. It just seemed like you were from where I was standing" she replied in a small voice. I let out a small sigh before explaining the situation of the meeting.

"Taryn, that was my whore of an ex. She was probably hired by someone to do that in an effort to drive us apart" I told her, and she looked up at me. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was your ex, trying to 'make ammends' with you. Just so he could betray your trust again" I finished, and Taryn had a scared look on her face before she got as close as humanly possible to me. If he is dumb enough to come to TNA, I can only pray he targets me first so I can make beg for Taryn's forgiveness.

After a while, I saw that Taryn was fast asleep, and I carried her to the bed. When I put her on the bed, she started to whimper causing me to shake her shoulder. She shot up, with a scared look on her face until her eyes landed on my face. In that moment, she latched on to me, and cried her eyes out. Screw having her boyfriend ask her for forgiveness, I was going to make him say those two words no wrestler will ever want to say: I Quit.

* * *

**Okay, I am going to be putting this story on hiatus after the next chapter due to me moving within the next three weeks. I will be posting more after I get set up, which will probably be the week after the move. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	16. Chapter 16

_"I thought you were going to take that other girl out." I gave her a look of both shock and hurt at that assumption._

_"Why would you think I would EVER cheat on you?"_

_"I don't know. It just seemed like you were from where I was standing" she replied in a small voice. I let out a small sigh before explaining the situation of the meeting._

_"Taryn, that was my whore of an ex. She was probably hired by someone to do that in an effort to drive us apart" I told her, and she looked up at me. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was your ex, trying to 'make amends with you. Just so he could betray your trust again" I finished, and Taryn had a scared look on her face before she got as close as humanly possible to me. If he is dumb enough to come to TNA, I can only pray he targets me first so I can make beg for Taryn's forgiveness._

_After a while, I saw that Taryn was fast asleep, and I carried her to the bed. When I put her on the bed, she started to whimper causing me to shake her shoulder. She shot up, with a scared look on her face until her eyes landed on my face. In that moment, she latched on to me, and cried her eyes out. Screw having her ex boyfriend ask her for forgiveness, I was going to make him say those two words no wrestler will ever want to say: I Quit._

* * *

I woke up after I heard a phone get thrown against the wall. Taryn was sitting on the couch, with her knees pulled into her chest.

"Taryn, what happened?" I asked her after I stood up, and she turned and looked at me. Her eyes held fear, anger, and worry in them.

"My ex sent me a text... threatening you" she said, and I had a smirk on my face. So he was going to come after me, which means I'll have the chance to break every bone in his body.

"Matt, why are you smirking?" Taryn asked, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"I was smirking cause that means he is going to come after me, and I get to break every bone in his body." Taryn gave me a surprised look, before rushing over to me, and tackling me on to the bed in a bone crushing hug.

"Matt, please don't" Taryn sobbed out, and it was breaking my heart.

"Taryn, look at me." Taryn picked her head up from my chest, and she had tears running down her cheeks. I brushed them away with my thumb, and pulled her into a deep kiss. When we parted, Taryn had a sly grin on her face.

"Was that to make me stop crying?" She asked, and I nodded my head. She giggled, before kissing my nose. Taryn is the only person who can make me blush by doing something like kissing my nose.

"Taryn, how about we go out for dinner after the show?" I asked her, and she gave me a sexy smile.

"That sounds great" she said, and I was still blushing at her smile.

* * *

When we got to the arena, I went and got changed into my new 'Motor City Assassin' shirt and my wrestling gear. That was when someone came barging in. I turned around and saw that it was Chris.

"What's going on bro?" I asked him, and he did the 'follow me' hand signal. I followed him to Taryn, who had the look of complete fear in her eyes. Velvet, Alex, and Hannah were sitting by her, and they gave me a small look that said 'something is going to happen.'

"Taryn, it's me, Matt. Will you please look up at me?" I begged her, and she did. When I saw that tears were forming at the corner of her eyes, I wanted to kill the bastard who made this angel want to cry. I went over to her, and pulled her into a protective hug.

"Taryn, tell me what happened" I whispered in her ear, and she started to sob.

"He... said that... he was going to... get his revenge... on me... by hurting you" she sobbed out in my ear, and Chris heard it.

"Who said that Tar?" Chris asked her, and she looked at me with pain in her eyes.

"Her ex said it. Can't wait to see if he is dumb enough to try it though" I replied for Taryn, and the group gave me a glare.

"Are you willing to let this... this..." Hannah started until Chris cut her off.

"Matt, although you make the Hulk look like a little girl when you're angry, is it wise for you to want him to try it? What if he is just saying that to make you think he is going to go after you, and end up going after Taryn instead?" He asked me, and I looked at him with an evil smirk on my face.

"Simple: I'm one hundred percent sure he has been trying to divide me and Taryn, just so he could swoop in and make her feel worse about herself. However, we haven't fallen for it."

"Why would he care about you guys not falling for it?"

"Because we have proven that we are stronger and smarter than him."

"You do realize that he is probably gonna attack you from behind, right?" Velvet asked me, and I nodded my head. That was when a stagehand came and told me that I needed to get to the gorilla position. I turned to Taryn, and she gave me a small smile.

"Taryn, if you still want to go out after the show, then meet me by my locker-room. Okay?" I asked her, and she nodded her head as I left. When Lose Yourself hit, the crowd started to blow the roof off the place. Bully came out to a large number of boos, and I didn't want to wait to start the match, so I left the ring and went after him.

* * *

Matt started to lay into Bully with forearms, punches, and kicks to his torso, legs, and head. Bully managed to rake Matt's eyes, and when Matt turned his back to him, Bully hit him across the back with the steel chain. He did this four more times, before Matt turned and hit him with an enziguri. He picked up the chain, and used it on Bully five times before tossing him off the ramp and using the STF and the chain to choke him out. Bully managed to fight out of it, and rammed Matt back first into the steel ring post.

As Matt struggled to get to his feet, Bully used the time to catch his breath, and to pull out a chair. When he went to hit Matt in the head, Matt dodged it and hit him with a standing dropkick. Bully went face first into the ring post, and Matt used the time to crawl and pull a ladder out from underneath the ring. Bully managed to get to his knees before Matt went over and hit him with a super-kick to the jaw. He then decided to set up a table right by the ramp. When he was done setting it up, Bully got to his knees, and dodged another super-kick. Bully waited for him to turn back around, and when Matt did, he was kicked in the gut and Bully decided to power-bomb him through the table he set up.

They were both down for a few minutes, and the crowd was chanting 'TNA.' Matt got to his feet first, and he crouched down by the guardrail. When Bully got to his feet, he was hit with a clothesline to the back of his head, and a quick super-kick to the jaw again. Matt then set up another table, and when he put Bully on the ramp again, he used the chair to make sure he wasn't going to get up. Matt then hit him with the TKO(**called the Hit List for future reference ** and the crowd started to chant 'This is awesome.' Matt started to crawl into the ring, and started to climb the ladder when Bully managed to get to his feet. He ran crawled into the ring, and climbed the opposite side of the ladder. When they were both at the top, they started to trade blows until Matt raked his eyes. That allowed Matt to push him off the ladder, and grab the contract. "Ring the bell" the match was over.

I looked at the contract in my hands, and had a huge smile on my face. Not only did I protect Taryn, but I can challenge for any of their titles. Due to me being out of action for around six weeks, me and Alex were stripped of the tag titles which pissed me off. As I started to celebrate, the lights went out and a figure wearing a black luchador mask, and black wrestling tights was on the screen.

"Matthew Dixon. You have certainly made an impact in TNA, but unfortunately for you, I could truly care less about the impact you had and the impact I WILL make. You walk around TNA as if you're better than everyone else, when I know the truth. However, that truth shall be revealed in time. I just wanted to let you know that I am your worst nightmare, for you will have no idea on when I will debut until the last possible second. You have injured two wrestlers already, and you will be the first victim of me. Of the only man capable of using YOUR fear with zero remorse" the person said, with malice and a voice changer in the mask. The image faded, and the lights came back up and I left the ring. All that I really cared about is if Taryn wanted to go out after that. When I arrived at my locker-room, I saw Taryn there, with panic in her beautiful blue eyes.

"Matt, we are just going to go back to the hotel" she said, with finality in her voice. I let out a small sigh, as I was hoping to see her in that black dress again.

"Can we at least go to the hotel bar? Dressed formally please?" I asked her, and she put her index finger to her bottom lip in the cutest way imaginable.

"Sure" she said, with a smile. She definitely knew how to get me worked up so to say. We then left to go to the hotel, and I was just praying that she was going to wear her black dress to the hotel bar.

* * *

When we got back to the hotel, I got changed in to a suit. Taryn just looked at me with a sly grin on her face.

"Looks like I know what to wear to the bar tonight" she said to me, in a sexy tone of voice. She left and got changed into her black dress, and we went down to the bar. We started to talk about where we went to high school until Mirrors by Justin Timberlake started to play. Taryn pulled me to the dance floor, and we were slow dancing to it. We continued to slow dance until midnight. The last song we danced to was All This Time by One Republic.

"I want this to be the song I dance to at our wedding" Taryn whispered in my ear, causing me to blush. In all honesty, this was the first time I could picture myself living a happy life with someone else. Being able to raise kids with her, teach them right from wrong, everything that a parent is supposed to do... Hell, for the first time, I don't see myself ending up like my father as long as I am by her side. She not only is the best girlfriend I could ever hope for, but she is also the perfect woman for me and my own personal angel.

* * *

When the song was done, we went back to the room. Taryn walked in first, and started to take her dress off in front of me, causing me to blush. She turned around and gave me a seductive look.

"What's wrong Matty-boo?" She asked me, as she purposefully showed off her body.

"Don't you want to change in the bathroom?" I replied, and she shook her head.

"Nope, cause I just want to change out here and snuggle up close to you."

"Well... um... you want me to wait outside?"

"Nope." She was enjoying it, and I just gulped as I started to check her out. Her entire body looked like it came from an angel. Whoever thought of abusing her is by far the biggest dumbass in the world.

"See something you like?" Taryn asked, shaking me out of my thoughts. She had a seductive grin on her face.

"Just the body of an angel" I replied, truthfully. She could hypnotize me with her smile, eyes, her laugh... Oh who am I kidding? She could hypnotize me with anything.

"Well then, how about you get a... closer look?" She suggested, and I gave her a look of surprise.

"Are you sure your okay with this?" She gave me a puzzled look, and I gave a small sigh. "I'm not going to take a... closer look unless you are one hundred percent sure you're okay with it" I told her, and she changed her seductive grin into a small smile.

"Matty-boo, I am one hundred and twenty percent sure I'm okay with it" she gave me an even bigger smile as she continued. "But thank you for being so caring that you wanted to be sure I was going to be fine with it. It's actually pretty sweet." After she said that, we started to kiss passionately, and one thing lead to another over the course of a few hours until we both laid, her arm draped across my torso and my arm on her shoulders, completely naked. The only thought that went through my mind before I drifted off to sleep was that as long as I was with my Tar-bear, I had nothing to worry about.

* * *

**Two things to point out for this chapter: #1 is the image was the introduction of Drake Alva, who will be in the second part of this story(will be called Taryn's Broken Knight) and #2 is that I decided for the whole bar scene to be in this chapter was done as a way for the relationship to grow some more. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Long Climb. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	17. Chapter 17

"_Just the body of an angel" I replied, truthfully. She could hypnotize me with her smile, eyes, her laugh... Oh who am I kidding? She could hypnotize me with anything._

"Well then, how about you get a... closer look?" She suggested, and I gave her a look of surprise.

"Are you sure your okay with this?" She gave me a puzzled look, and I gave a small sigh. "I'm not going to take a... closer look unless you are one hundred percent sure you're okay with it" I told her, and she changed her seductive grin into a small smile.

"Matty-boo, I am one hundred and twenty percent sure I'm okay with it" she gave me an even bigger smile as she continued. "But thank you for being so caring that you wanted to be sure I was going to be fine with it. It's actually pretty sweet." After she said that, we started to kiss passionately and one thing lead to another over the course of a few hours until we both laid, her arm draped across my torso and my arm on her shoulders, completely naked. The only thought that went through my mind before I drifted off to sleep was that as long as I was with my Tar-bear, I had nothing to worry about. 

* * *

I woke up at seven in the morning to go and make Taryn her favorite breakfast, as today was her birthday. It was just some pancakes and French toast, so it was easy for me to make. When I heard Taryn start to stir, I went and grabbed her present from my bags. I sat on the edge of the bed waiting for her to sit up. When she did, she let out a short yawn.

"Good morning beautiful. Did you sleep well?" I asked her, and she gave me a small grin.

"Why, yes I did sleep well. It's pretty easy sleeping well in my Prince Charming's arms" she replied, which made me start to blush. How she was able to constantly make me blush is beyond my knowledge, but I loved it.

"Well then, my Princess, I have a gift for you."

"What is it?" She asked, excitedly. I chuckled as I pulled it out from behind my back. When she ripped it open, she saw she had a CD from Keith Urban and a Motor City Assassin shirt. She looked up at me in surprise, but I just put my finger to her lips.

"I have another gift for you, but you need to close your eyes" I told her, and she gave me a sly grin.

"If I must. I hope the gift is what I think it is though" she replied, in a sexy tone of voice, which once again made me blush. After she closed her eyes, I pulled out a gold necklace from my back pocket and put it around her neck, which made her tense up.

"Taryn, open your eyes" I told her, and she did. I was looking at her with fear in my eyes. I didn't think she was going to react like that, and it gave me even more reason to hate her ex... man do I feel bad for him, cause if I see him he will feel just how much I hate him. I just haven't decided on whether I should run him over with a tank or shoot him with a couple of rockets. Decisions, decisions.

"Matty-boo, are you in there?" Taryn asked, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I was just thinking" I replied, and she gave me a playful roll of the eyes.

"Sure you were. You want a quick... up close look at my body" she replied, with a seductive smile on her face.

"Well, only if you look down at your gift" I replied, and she did look down... just not at the necklace. I lifted her chin up, and pointed to my neck as an indicator as to where it was. When she did look at it, she gave me a look of surprise before tackling me onto the foot of the bed and started to kiss me.

"Can you two knock that off please? Some of us are trying to sleep still" Chris shouted from outside the door. Me and Taryn shared a pissed off look on our faces as I opened my door. Alex and Chris had smug looks on their faces.

"Told you they did it yesterday Alex" Chris told him, and my eyebrow started to twitch in anger.

"Damn. Here is the fifty dollars" he replied, and I snatched it out of his hand.

"If you're done annoying me, we are going to eat breakfast and using this fifty dollars on something good" I said, and they both rolled their eyes at me.

"That fifty dollars was going to Taryn's gift from us" Alex said to me, and I let out a short sigh as I gave Chris the money. Taryn just rested her head on my shoulder.

"If you guys are done, I am starving" she said, as Chris and Alex said their goodbyes. After breakfast was done, with a couple of kisses coming from Taryn for making her favorites, she gave me an... up close look at her body again. We stayed laying down until it was two in the afternoon, and we left for lunch before going to the next show.

* * *

Me and Taryn were walking backstage, when I was told I was going to have a backstage segment with Taryn and a match against Manik. I saw that Alex was going to win the X-Division title, and Chris was going to win the Heavyweight title tonight as well. I had a smirk on my face, as they were going to be rewarded for their hard work and dedication.

* * *

I was warming up for my match when I felt a hand go on my shoulder. I looked over, and saw Taryn standing there, with a small smile on her face.

"Hey, I wanted to say thanks for helping me" she said, as I just chuckled slightly. She gave me a confused look.

"You don't need to thank me. I was just doing what any guy with half a brain would do in a situation like that" I replied, and she kissed me on the cheek and walked away.

After the cameraman left, she came back into my room and gave me a long kiss on the lips and told me to give it my all tonight. I gave her a confident smile, and she started to blush as I left to the ring for my match. Manik went out first, and was given a loud pop. When I went out, the crowd gave me the same sort of pop, and I knew they were going to be in for a treat.

* * *

Manik and Matt shook hands before the match, showing a sign of respect between them. When the bell ran, Manik went after Matt and hit him with a flurry of punches and kicks before hitting a spinning heel kick on him. Matt started to get up, and when Manik ran at him, he rolled out of the way before hitting Manik with his own flurry of punches that was punctuated with a clothesline. Manik got to his knees when Matt ran at him. He rolled out of the way, and when Matt turned around, he was greeted with a springboard DDT. Manik then climbed to the top rope and hit a flying cross-body on him, and waited for him to get up. When he did get up, Manik put him in the fireman's carry position before Matt started to elbow his head. Matt turned it into an inverted DDT, and hit Manik with a springboard leg drop. Matt then measured him up for a spear, but Manik moved out of the way and Matt hit the ring post shoulder first. When he got out of the corner, Manik hit him with a drop kick to the injured shoulder. Manik then used an arm-bar to hurt the shoulder even more. When he let go, he measured Matt up for his Death From Below, which Matt countered and hit him with a super-kick. Matt waited until Manik got to his knees before hitting a flurry of kicks, before using a running heel kick to finish it off. Matt then set up for the Hit List, which was blocked by Manik, who used a back breaker to counter it. The fans started to chant 'this is awesome' and 'TNA' as both Matt and Manik started to get to their feet. When they were both up they started to trade punches and kicks until Manik managed to kick Matt in the gut, and put him in the fireman's carry position. Manik then dropped him and hit an overhead kick and went for the pin. "1...2.." Matt managed to kick out, which surprised everyone. Manik then hit Matt with the Death From Below, and went for another pin. "1...2...3 ring the bell" the match was over.

* * *

Manik helped me to my feet, and I raised his arm in victory. We then walked to the back with the crowd chanting our names. When we got to the back, I ran into Taryn who was in a pair of black skinny jeans and the Motor City Assassin shirt I got for her birthday and we went back to the hotel. When we got there, Taryn just started to get changed in front of me which caused me to blush. She turned and looked at me, with a sad look in her eyes.

"Matty-boo, I can't find my pajamas. Is it alright if I wear something of yours tonight?" She asked, and I just nodded. After she was done getting changed, she put on a romantic movie, and we watched it until Taryn fell asleep. I carried her to the bed, and when I laid her down, the only thing that ran through my mind was that she touched every place in my heart, and every little thing she does makes me more amazed by her.

* * *

**Gotta say a few things really quick: 1st is that if you didn't watch the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact, I would recommend youtubing it. It was pretty damn good IMO. 2nd is that I am officially off of hiatus for the stories. 3rd is that the overhead kick move is called the Detonation Kick. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Long Climb. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	18. Chapter 18

_Manik helped me to my feet, and I raised his arm in victory. We then walked to the back with the crowd chanting our names. When we got to the back, I ran into Taryn who was in a pair of black skinny jeans and the Motor City Assassin shirt I got for her birthday and we went back to the hotel. When we got there, Taryn just started to get changed in front of me which caused me to blush. She turned and looked at me, with a sad look in her eyes._

_"Matty-boo, I can't find my pajamas. Is it alright if I wear something of yours tonight?" She asked, and I just nodded. After she was done getting changed, she put on a romantic movie, and we watched it until Taryn fell asleep. I carried her to the bed, and when I laid her down, the only thing that ran through my mind was that she touched every place in my heart, and every little thing she does makes me more amazed by her._

* * *

I woke up to the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder. I turned and saw Taryn there, standing with a cute little smile on her face.

"Matty-boo, do you know what today is?" She asked me, and I quickly tried to think of it. Last week was her birthday, so I know it's not that. Chris and Alex don't have birthday parties... at least, they THINK they don't. Already got a lot of people willing to help out for that whole plan. I really can't think of anything else, which is probably gonna make her sad.

"Um... what's today?" I replied, noticing her face drop a little after the question. It made my heart break seeing her sad, which was something I always tried to avoid.

"It's your birthday" she said to me, in a sad tone of voice. How could I have forgotten my own birthday you may ask? Well, long story short, my father gave me his version of a 'great gift.' That being, one more hit from the previous year. He was up to fourteen before he kicked me out. Those were both great and dark days for me, but let's not go that far into my past.

"... Matt, are you listening to me?" She asked, shaking me out of my thoughts. I shook my head no, and she let out a small sigh.

"I was saying that I was going to make sure you have the best birthday ever" she said, while giving me a pointed look after seeing my lopsided grin.

"So Taryn, does that mean I get to hold you for the entire day, or is it going to be even better than just that?" I asked, and she gave me a playful smile.

"You and I will be going out for dinner after the show, and you may get to hold me after dinner" she replied, in a playful tone. We spent the rest of the morning just watching TV, and me trying to stay as far away from my past when she asks me a question.

* * *

We were walking backstage when I found out that I was going to in a match against Robbie E, who was going to be talking trash about Taryn in our backstage segment. Taryn gave me a quick kiss on the lips before I got in position for the segment.

* * *

I was walking around backstage, when I bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going bro!" The person, who I recognized as Robbie E said in a pissed off tone of voice.

"Why should I?" I shot back, and he gave me a glare.

"You should watch who you're talking to bro. I could steal that blonde slut from underneath your nose."

"What blonde slut?"

"That Taryn bitch bro. You know, the one who is probably screwing every guy in the locker-room bro." I grabbed him by the neck and leveled him with a deadly glare.

"Unless you want me to break every bone in your body, I recommend you shut the hell up" I said, in a low but deadly voice. He just smirked at me.

"Bro, you KNOW it's true. She is the whore of the locker-" he started, until I landed a punch in his gut.

"You and me will settle this in the ring. You should write your will out before the match" I stated, in a confident tone before I left. When the cameraman left, Rob stood up and had a grin on his face. He then left and went to the gorilla position. After I had done a little shadow boxing, I went to the gorrila position for the match. Robbie went out first, to a loud chorus of boos. I was met with a thunderous cheer.

* * *

Robbie ran at Matt, who moved out of the way and hit him with a standing drop kick to start the match off. Matt then worked on the midsection of Robbie, which ended when Matt hit a springboard splash. He went for the quick cover "1..." Robbie kicked out. Robbie got to his knees before Matt hit him with a flurry of kicks, punctuated with a super-kick to the jaw. Matt then went to the furthest corner and crouched down. When Robbie got to his feet, Matt hit him with a huge spear. He then picked Robbie up and hit him with the Hit List and went for the cover "1...2..." Matt was attacked from behind by the Aces and Eights. They took turns beating him down, and Bully threw in a pair of stairs. Bischoff and Brisco held Matt up, while Bully measured him for a Bully Cutter on the stairs. Matt was out cold after it hit, and Bully grabbed a mic.

* * *

"This is what happens when you mess with the Aces and Eights. We will burn this damn company down if we have to!" Bully exclaimed, as I sold the Cutter onto the stairs. When I was stretchered out of the ring, the crowd was chanting my name.

I went green room after the match, and had this bad feeling about tonight. I shrugged it off as me being paranoid over nothing. That was until I felt an object meet the back of my skull.

"... Will he be able to compete on Saturday?" I heard someone ask, and a muffled response in answer. I saw that I was in the trainers office, which meant someone found me out cold. Sting walked into the room, with the trainer right behind him.

"Matt, do you know who would attack you?" Sting asked, and I shook my head no. This is why I hated my birthday. The trainer nodded his head at Sting, who pulled out a letter from the chest pocket of his suit.

"Matt, this letter was found next to you when Taryn found you. You need to be careful... for Taryn's sake" he said, as I started to read the letter.

_Matthew, this is just the beginning of the nightmare I have planned for you. You're little girlfriend will get involved in the nightmare unless you do the right thing and quit wrestling. If not, then I will hurt everyone who you care about at the point when they are at their weakest. That point is you. You get to choose whether or not they get hurt  
-Drake Alva_

This Drake Alva person is really getting on my nerves. However, it seems like he is targeting me for some reason... Wait a minute, since he knows about Taryn does that mean?

"Matt, what is it?" I heard Sting ask, in a worried tone of voice. I turned to face him, and I'm sure that it looks like I just saw a ghost.

"Does Taryn have a match tonight?" I asked him, and he shook his head no.

"Then make sure she is being watched by either Christian Cage, Chris, Alex, or someone from the Mafia! AT ALL TIMES!" I exclaimed at him, causing the trainer to go and inform said people of what I need them to do.

"What is it Matt?" He asked, and I faced him with a fire in my eyes that could rival the flames of hell.

"This son of a bitch is targeting me for a reason. He wants to hurt the people closest to me by hurting me" I replied, and his eyes went wide. He probably realized what I did: Drake Alva is either someone from my past or Taryn's ex.

* * *

**We are three chapters away from the end of part one, which means we are about to see the debut of Drake Alva. The little cliffhanger about him being either Taryn's ex or someone from my past will be detailed in the next part, along with some more of Matt's past. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Long Climb. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	19. Chapter 19

"_Does Taryn have a match tonight?" I asked him, and he shook his head no._

_"Then make sure she is being watched by either Christian Cage, Chris, Alex, or someone from the Mafia! AT ALL TIMES!" I exclaimed at him, causing the trainer to go and inform said people of what I need them to do._

_"What is it Matt?" He asked, and I faced him with a fire in my eyes that could rival the flames of hell._

_"This son of a bitch is targeting me for a reason. He wants to hurt the people closest to me by hurting me" I replied, and his eyes went wide. He probably realized what I did: Drake Alva is either someone from my past or Taryn's ex._

* * *

Taryn came rushing into the trainer's room and gave me a big hug. This whole mess with Drake will need to be ended quickly, for her sake. Most of the people who fall in love describe it as some sort of fairy-tale where they are the hero of the story by defeating the biggest foe of anyone: the ex of the person they love. In this case though, I have no damn clue on whether Drake is her ex or just one of the many vengeful faces from my past. There have been times when I have been cornered, and forced to take on the odds, but this is the first time that made me stop and think about the consequences my actions may end up having. Taryn could get hurt or brought into this. He could try going after my biggest weakness, in an effort to get in my head and gain that valuable step ahead of me. This is a mess that is not going to be easy to clean up, but it isn't going too be for me though. It is going to be for Taryn._  
_  
"Matt, did you hear anything I just said?" Taryn asked, stopping my train of thought. I shook my head no and she let out a small sigh.

"I said that we are going to go out for dinner so we can not focus on work and this Drake Alva person" she said, and I nodded my head in agreement. We didn't need to focus on him... well, Taryn didn't at least. I was the one who he was targeting, and I am going to be the one who puts an end to this madness. The Aces may have stolen titles and attacked others, but the momentum was quickly changing for the past few months with the Mafia and I using their best tactic against them: surprise attacks. That was why I agreed to take Rampage's spot in the tag match after he got attacked by the Aces. It was going to be five on four, which didn't bode well for the Mafia but it didn't matter to me.

After dinner was done, with no one interrupting us, we went back to the hotel and Taryn got changed into a pair of my sweatpants and in front of me again. She laid her head on my chest, and I put my arm around her waist. She quickly fell asleep, and I carried her over to the bed and gave her a kiss goodnight. Taryn opened one of her eyes, giving me a small smile.

"The kiss should have been longer" she said, and I playfully rolled my eyes and gave her a long kiss. After the need for oxygen forced us apart, she had a bright smile on her face. When I got under the covers with her, she got as close as humanely possible, causing me to start blushing. How she does this I will never know, and I will be happier not knowing.

The following morning, I felt Taryn giving me a good morning kiss. I opened my eyes too see her standing in nothing but her underwear, and I started to blush furiously, causing her to giggle.

"Good morning Matty-boo" she said, in a cheery voice. I was just staring at her, making her snap her fingers in an effort too snap me out of my trance. Of course, seeing her sexy grin was even more hypnotizing.

"Matty-boo, are you okay?" She asked, sexy grin still plastered on her face as she put her hand on my forehead and giving me a... better view of her bra.

"I-I'm fine Tar-bear" I stammered out, and she reluctantly pulled her hand away.

"If you say so. I'm going to take a shower" she replied, swaying her hips as she walked away. She is the definition of perfect.

"Tar-bear, why don't we shower together?" I asked her, and she gave me a seductive grin.

"Well, to be honest, I was waiting for you too suggest it" she replied, and I followed her into the bathroom. Most fun in a shower that I have ever had before.

* * *

On our way to the arena, I was thinking up of the possible suspects who could be Drake Alva. I grew up in the bad part of Detroit, and got in to a lot of fights, so maybe it was one of them? No, they wouldn't because they knew going in that I was a damn good fighter. Maybe it was that kid who I mugged? He would fit the profile of Drake Alva, but why would he be targeting the ones I care about? I'll cross that bridge if he really is Drake Alva.

We got to the arena, and I went to get ready for the 'loser leaves TNA' tag match tonight. The Mafia was going too trim down the number of Aces left in the group. Doc turned in his cut, and they expelled D'Lo, and now they were going to realize that every single member, especially the Huntington Beach Bitch is on my hit-list. We just needed another member to take Kurt's place, as he got help for his problems and I knew a certain... wolf who knew what the Aces were capable of and would be paid a handsome amount for his cooperation. I had managed too secure his help the previous night, and believe me when I say that the fans will NOT see it coming. Taryn was escorting me out to the gorilla position, and when we got there Chris and Alex were standing there.

"Don't worry bro, we will make sure no one comes near her" Alex said, and Taryn gave me a confused look.

"Long story short, this Drake Alva person is targeting me for a reason. I'll let you decide why, but I'll give you a hint: when you stand in front of a mirror, an angel will show itself and will reveal the reason" I told her, and she started to panic. Bully Ray, Brooke Tessmacher, and Tito Ortiz were already out there. When Lose Yourself hit, the crowd erupted in a thunderous cheer. I gave Bully a cocky grin before going to the ring and stopping when a tech guy gave me a mic.

"Aces, there is no chance in hell of you beating the Mafia tonight" I said, and everyone started cheering for that as Anderson just chuckled.

"It's a five on four handicap match, and the numbers are in our favor" he replied, and I started to laugh evilly.

"Anderson, the numbers may be in your favor, but the odds are in our favor because of a... trump card."

"And just what would that be?" I gave him and evil smile as Evil Ways hit, and an AJ chant broke out. When he stood next to me, I gave him a small nod as his old music hit and the roof was blown off the place. We hopped over the rope, and AJ went after Anderson and I went after Bischoff. The AJ chants didn't let up during that entire time, and while we were brawling on the outside, AJ threw Anderson back into the ring.

* * *

AJ started to stomp down on Anderson's midsection, just so he could hit a few quick elbow drops. He then did his old P1 sign, causing the crowd to blow the roof off the place again. He hit Anderson with a few quick kicks, before hitting a spinning heel kick on him. AJ then tagged in Joe, who was wearing Anderson down with some quick jabs to his jaw, and then hitting an atomic drop on him. Joe ran against the ropes and hit him with a running knee to the face. Joe went for the cover, but Brisco broke it up. Magnus got in and started to brawl with Brisco, but Anderson managed to hit Joe with a low blow before tagging in Knux. Knux started to beat him down with a large flurry of punches, punctuated with a knockout punch to the jaw. When he went for the pin, Matt broke the pin up quickly and got out of the ring just as fast. Joe took the time that Knux was distracted to catch his breath and to formulate a quick game-plan.

Knux turned around, and Joe started to lay into him with some serious punches and stiff kicks. Joe hit him with a STO takedown, before dragging him over to our corner and tagging in Sting who started to work on his legs. Sting was dropping elbows onto Knux's leg, and after doing that five times, he turned him on his stomach and lifted his leg up in the air before dropping it back then started to work on his back, causing Devon, Anderson, Bischoff, and Brisco to jump in the ring. Joe, Magnus, AJ, and Matt all jumped in the ring to brawl with them. After Devon threw Magnus out of the ring, he was face to face with AJ and they started to trash talk each-other before AJ got back on the apron. Sting tagged him in, and he threw Knux into the Aces corner, telling Devon to tag himself in. When he did, AJ and Devon started to trade punches and kicks before AJ managed to hit him with his newest move, the back elbow combo. AJ then tagged Matt in, and Matt started to work over Devon's head, neck, and midsection.

Matt was dropping elbows and leg drops onto Devon. After five of each he waited for Devon to get to his knees before hitting him with a quick flurry of kicks, punctuated with a super-kick to the jaw. Matt then started to work on the back of Devon's legs, setting up for the calf killer of AJ's. He was using elbow drops and knees to the back of the legs, and after he felt he wore them down sufficiently, he tagged in AJ. AJ locked Devon in the calf killer, and Bischoff managed to break it up. Matt got in the ring and started to brawl with Bischoff, sending him over the top rope with a standing drop kick. Devon managed to get to his feet, and as he went for a power-bomb, AJ countered it into a roll up, before standing up and hitting Devon with the Styles Clash. "1...2...3 ring the bell" the match was over, and Devon was gone from TNA.

* * *

The Mafia started to celebrate their victory, and the look of disbelief on Bully's face. I grabbed a mic from a tech guy so I could let Bully know who was going to face me for the now vacated TV title.

"Boy, this is a great day for the Mafia. We got rid of Devon from the Aces AND TNA, which is a plus. Bully looks like he just pissed his pants cause he sees the person who will be the dagger in the Aces heart, the Phenomenal One, AJ Styles, and at No Surrender, poor old Anderson will be the victim of me cashing in my guaranteed title shot on the TV title. Since it's current holder is GONE, he gets to hold it for one night only" I said, and the roof was blown off the place for the third time. The lights went down, and Drake Alva was on the screen.

"Congrats on the victory Mafia, but I just want to give everyone a little heads up. Matthew, at No Surrender, you may think you will hold the strap for longer than a few days, but you won't I promise you this much Matthew: No Surrender is the day I will make my impact, and the people you care about will be targeted by me. They will be forced too watch as you get stretchered out of the arena, and your career will be ended. Hope you enjoy your last few weeks as a wrestler, cause your time is running out" he said, and then the lights came back up. The Mafia and I left, and Sting gave me a questioning look. I'm certain that this prick is someone from my past, but since Taryn hasn't told me anything about her ex, so he is also a good choice. All I do know is that come No Surrender, Drake Alva will strike, and I don't know when.

"Matt, are you okay?" Taryn asked me, stopping my train of thought.

"Yeah, we should get back to the hotel. I need to ask you something important" I replied, and she just nodded her head. For the second time in the past month, I felt the eyes of someone on me. The look was menacing, cold, and possibly calculating. Tonight though, I am going to find out if this Drake person was Taryn's ex or just someone from my past.

* * *

**We are two chapters away from the end of part one, which means we are about to see the debut of Drake Alva next chapter. The last chapter will be what happens up until Slammiversary, which is where the next part will pick up. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Long Climb. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	20. Chapter 20

_"Congrats on the victory Mafia, but I just want to give everyone a little heads up. Matthew, at No Surrender, you may think you will hold the strap for longer than a few days, but you won't I promise you this much Matthew: No Surrender is the day I will make my impact, and the people you care about will be targetted by me. They will be forced too watch as you get stretchered out of the arena, and your career will be ended. Hope you enjoy your last few weeks as a wrestler, cause your time is running out" he said, and then the lights came back up. The Mafia and I left, and Sting gave me a questioning look. I'm certain that this prick is someone from my past, but since Taryn hasn't told me anything about her ex, so he is also a good choice. All I do know is that come No Surrender, Drake Alva will strike, and I don't know when._

_"Matt, are you okay?" Taryn asked me, stopping my train of thought._

_"Yeah, we should get back to the hotel. I need to ask you something important" I replied, and she just nodded her head. For the second time in the past month, I felt the eyes of someone on me. The look was menacing, cold, and possibly calculating. Tonight though, I am going to find out if this Drake person was Taryn's ex or just someone from my past._

* * *

When we got to the hotel, Taryn and I went to our room and she looked me in the eyes. Her eyes held confusion in them, probably over the reason why we needed to talk.

"Taryn, I need a full description of what your ex looked like. I have this feeling he is now known as Drake Alva" I said, and she told me that he was about 250 pounds, 6'5'', had a scar on his face. It was from the top of his right cheek and ran down to his top lip, and had teal eyes. He sounded like someone I used to know back in Detroit. The person was one of my closest friends who decided to abandon me during a fight with a couple of kids. The police didn't give a damn about the poor kids, like me. They only cared about stopping 'bigger crimes' like a doughnut store going out of business. That was back when I was around fifteen or sixteen, but it all changed when Chris and Alex ran into me. But, if it is true that he is Taryn's ex, then this complicates things even more than they were before. He would have no remorse in using Taryn to get in my head. Bloody hell I hate this. If he does use her, then it's my fault. If he decides too show some compassion, then I am fucked. He cornered me, by using my biggest weakness. And, if he remains true to his word, then No Surrender is when he will strike. This is now a fight to keep Taryn safe from his wrath. In all honesty, I was scared for her. She will be worried if he attacks me, but I do know this: if he tries striking me down, then I will return stronger than before.

"Matty-boo, are you okay?" Taryn asked me, bringing me back to reality. She had a concerned look on her face, blue eyes glistening with worry. All though I know how he is going to hurt her, I know there is no way of stopping it unless I retire. No chance in hell of that happening, which means at No Surrender, he will fire the first shot of our little war.

Taryn wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. I completely forgot that she was there. After a few seconds, she pulled away from the kiss, and I gave her a small smile.

"Sorry about that. I completely forgot you were there" I told her, and her eyebrows knitted up in confusion and anger. I gave her a small sigh, before continuing. "I was thinking of something else. Well, to be more specific, it was a way to make sure you are protected during No Surrender" I finished, and she gave me a small nod.

"Okay. Why do I need to be protected though?" She asked me.

"If Drake is your ex, then he will have no remorse using you against me. Hell, he wouldn't have remorse hiring someone to get rid of me. Your protection though, that is the only thing I give a damn about." Her eyes went wide, and she latched her arms around my chest, sobbing into it. I may hate hearing her sob, but at No Surrender, Drake may attack. Going to be a long war, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was attrition involved. Him, attacking the people I care about and me attacking him from behind. No matter what though, I was going to make damn sure Taryn wasn't used in the first shot. Would rather get injured than her getting hurt because of a mistake I made.

After a few more minutes of her sobbing, Taryn looked up at me. Eyes were red, and her pale cheeks had tear lines running down them. Brushing the tears away, I planted a kiss on her lips. It wasn't anything fancy, just a kiss that told her that she means the world to me. We both fell asleep after a few hours of just watching TV and talking.

* * *

Tonight was the night. It was the night where I would challenge Anderson for the TV title. The night where Bully Ray would challenge for the World Heavyweight title in a steel cage. AJ Styles vs Austin Aries, and Bobby Roode vs Magnus too see who will advance to the finals of the Bound For Glory series. Not to mention Drake Alva debuting and attacking me. Alex and Manik started the show off in a match for the X-Division title that Manik won. Magnus and Roode followed that in a good match, that sent Magnus to the finals. Now, it was my turn. Christian was with Taryn, along with the Mafia. This was going to be a good match, that ends in me either losing the title and attacked or winning and attacked. Fuck me right? I went out, and the crowd blew the roof off the place. Anderson was met with a lot of boos as the match started.

* * *

Matt and Anderson started the match out with a test of strength, which Matt used to hit Anderson with a knee to the side of the gut. He followed that up with a quick neck-breaker and a few knee drops on Anderson's chest. Matt went for the quick pin. "1..." Anderson kicked out. Matt measured him up for a spear, but he moved out of the way causing Matt to go shoulder first into the steel ring post. Anderson started to work on Matt's shoulder, using the ring ropes to put as much pressure on the shoulder as possible. He let go at the count of four, and kicked the arm into the turnbuckle. Matt got to his feet, only to get hit with a kick to the gut. Anderson hit him with a snap suplex, before locking in an arm-bar on Matt. He crawled to the bottom rope and Anderson waited till the count of four to break. When he went for a baseball slide into Matt's chest, Matt hit him with a springboard drop kick. He landed on his bad shoulder, and started to wither around in pain. When he managed to get to his feet, Anderson used a T-bone suplex on him. Anderson then started to stomp down on the arm of his prey before measuring him for a mic-check. When Matt got up, he barely managed to grab the ropes to counter the mic-check. He turned it into a quick DDT using his bad arm. When he got to his feet, he measured Anderson for a belly to belly suplex. When he hit it when Anderson managed to get on his feet, and he followed it up with a flurry of kicks punctuated with a super-kick to the jaw. He measured him up for the Hit List when the lights went off. When they came back on, a masked figure hit Matt with a steel chair on the back of the head. The ref called for the bell, but the figure didn't stop.

* * *

He used the chair on my bad arm and placed the chair around it. He stomped down on it, breaking my arm. As I screamed out in pain, he pulled out a hammer and used it on my knees, probably breaking them. He didn't relent though, as he brought in the stairs and used them to crush me. The worst part was when he set them up in the corner and hit me with a T-bone suplex into them. My back was hurting, my knees were probably broken, and my arm WAS broken. That was when he decided to go for the kill by hitting me with a pile-driver on the bottom pair of stairs. I blacked out due to the pain, with Taryn on my mind.

* * *

I woke up in a hospital room, and started too look around. The pain in my neck started to act up, and I resisted the urge to scream in pain. That was when I realized someone was holding my hand, and I decided to squeeze the hand to wake said person up.

"Matt... please wake up" I heard the voice, which was Taryn, say. As the pain started to hurt worse, I let out some whimpering noises which caused Taryn to open her eyes and run out the door. A minute later, she returned with a doctor.

"Just hold still. The pain will go away in a few minutes" the doctor said and as I laid there, completley still, Taryn's eyes started to water.

"There we go, now then Mr. Carter, we have some good news and bad news" he said, and for the first time in Lord knows how long, I spoke.

"What is the bad news?" My voice was hoarse, and Taryn brought me a glass of water. The doctor looked at his notes before giving me a short sigh.

"The injuries you suffered three days ago will keep you out of action for six months to ten months. You should be lucky, as none of them were life threatning or career ending. The good news is that Ms. Terrell has volunteered to look after you when you leave the hospital in three weeks." I looked over at Taryn, who gave me a small smile, which I returned.

"Can't wait till I can get out of here and back in a ring" I said, and the doctor just chuckled before leaving me and Taryn in the room. The silence between us was broken by me.

"Tar-bear, he didn't hurt you did he?" Was the first question I asked, and she giggled a bit before placing a kiss on my lips.

"Not physically, but he did hurt you, which in turn hurt me" she said, and I let out a short sigh. The second I am able to return, that prick is going to go down. Some of my other friends stopped by to visit me, even Dixie Carter came to visit me. When she heard the news, she told me that she wanted me to be involved in the Bound For Glory series next year. That took me by surprise, but after she left Taryn gave me a nice long kiss.

"If you're a part of the series next year, then I am going to be able to claim that I'm dating a world champion" she said, and I chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad that I can already claim to be dating an angel" I replied, cusing her to blush. The next three weeks went by as slowly as possible, but when we got to her house in Florida, I knew that I was going to enjoy my time off with her. When Christmas rolled around, my neck and back were better and my knees were starting to get healed. I got Taryn her favorite DVD and some jewelry for Christmas. Not to mention a picture of the two of us in a mall. She was wearing her light blue shirt and I was in my Tigers jersey. She got me a shirt and the latest CD from my favorite band, along with another gift she went to get.

"Matty-boo, turn around for your present" she said, in a seductive voice. When I turned around, she was standing there, with her Christmas outfit on. It consisted of a small, red blouse, red mini skirt, and a green bra. Her Santa hat had a mistletoe attached to the little white ball at the top, and I was just grinning at it.

"Now that is a present I will never get old of unwrapping" I said, as she got closer to me. The kiss was VERY passionate, and one thing lead to another. Thankfully Chris and Alex were visiting for New Year's. That is going to be a blast, and I mean that in a literal term.

* * *

**Next chapter will be the last chapter, and will set the stage for the next part. I would like to take this time and thank all those who read the story, reviewed, added it to your favorites list and followed it. Next part will be a hundred times better than this was. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Long Climb. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next time on The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


	21. Chapter 21

_"Well, I'm glad that I can already claim to be dating an angel" I replied, causing her to blush. The next three weeks went by as slowly as possible, but when we got to her house in Florida, I knew that I was going to enjoy my time off with her. When Christmas rolled around, my neck and back were better and my knees were starting to get healed. I got Taryn her favorite DVD and some jewelry for Christmas. Not to mention a picture of the two of us in a mall. She was wearing her light blue shirt and I was in my Tigers jersey. She got me a shirt and the latest CD from my favorite band, along with another gift she went to get._

_"Matty-boo, turn around for your present" she said, in a seductive voice. When I turned around, she was standing there, with her Christmas outfit on. It consisted of a small, red blouse, red mini skirt, and a green bra. Her Santa hat had a mistletoe attached to the little white ball at the top, and I was just grinning at it._

_"Now that is a present I will never get old of unwrapping" I said, as she got closer to me. The kiss was VERY passionate and one thing lead to another. Thankfully Chris and Alex were visiting for New Year's. That is going to be a blast, and I mean that in a literal term._

* * *

I was backstage for Slammiversary, supporting Taryn in her quest for the Knockouts Title which was held by Brooke Tessmacher. Unknown to the other wrestlers, I was also cleared to return to the ring and Dixie wanted it to be a surprise. So, they said that the Gauntlet participants will only find out who the others were tonight. While I was out, there were a lot of changes. Drake Alva became the World Heavyweight champion at Lockdown by cheating. He was in the ring with AJ Styles and Kurt Angle, and Taryn did not take to kindly to him becoming the champ. AJ Styles went on to be the dagger in the Aces heart by beating Bully in one hell of a match. The tag titles were won by two new additions to the roster, and the called themselves the American Wolves. That brought a smile to my face, especially since I knew how good they truly are. _  
_  
"Matty-boo, I gotta go and get ready for my match" Taryn said, and I gave her a good luck kiss. When she left, I decided to take a look at my new gear for the match tonight, and it consisted of a blue luchador mask, and blue tights, and red boots. It felt like I was a new man. I couldn't wait until I revealed myself after the Gauntlet match, which was the main event of the evening. Going to be great hearing the crowd's reaction to it.

Now then, back to what happened these past few months. Hogan decided to quit TNA, and Jeff Jarrett made his return as the new GM of Impact. He started making some noise, primarily by announcing the creation of an International Title for the company, replacing the TV Title. He brought back the World Cup, and the top two teams would have a Gauntlet match, and the winner would go on and challenge for it at Genesis. So far, Prince Devitt was the current holder of it, and was defending it all over the world. Chris and Alex stayed true to their word of visiting me while I was injured, and they told me that Drake was targeting the people close to me. He took it to a whole other level though, by laying his hands on Velvet and Hannah. The Machine Guns were granted a handicap match with him, but he managed to steal a victory. Thankfully Magnus and Samoa Joe managed to get some victories over him, even though they were short lived. The last major thing that happened was that Dixie announced that Impact was going to be hosting PPVs in Japan, Mexico, England, and Canada. When Taryn's theme song played, I started watching the match. She and I were training when my knees were considered to be healed enough.

* * *

Taryn and Brooke started it off with an elbow and collar tie up. Brooke pushed Taryn to the ground, and Taryn got up to her feet quickly. Brooke went to punch Taryn, but she blocked it and started to lay into her with a flurry of punches. Taryn hit her with a spinning heel kick, knocking Brooke down to the ground. When Brooke got to her feet, she kicked Taryn in the gut and started to hit her with forearms to her back. Brooke punctuated it with a elbow to the back that sent Taryn face first to the mat before going for a pin. "1...2.." Taryn kicked out. Brooke started to argue with the ref, and Taryn used that time to catch her breath. When Brooke turned around, she was met with a kick to the gut and a quick DDT. Taryn got to her feet slowly, and waited for Brooke to get to her feet before hitting her with a running neck-breaker. After doing that, Taryn went for the pin. "1...2.." Brooke kicked out, and Taryn waited for her to get to her knees. When she was got to her knees, Taryn hit her with a flurry of kicks, punctuated with a super-kick. Taryn went for the pin again "1...2.." Brooke kicked out again, and Taryn backed up into the corner. When Brooke got up to her feet, Taryn hit her with a running cutter and went for the pin once again. "!...2...3 ring the bell." The match was over, and Taryn was the new Knockouts Champion.

* * *

I was smiling at the screen when someone tapped me on my shoulder. I turned and saw Allen standing there, and he gave me a pair of crutches.

"Go out there and celebrate with her" he said, and I just nodded and went out, using the crutches. Taryn knew I didn't need them, but the crowd didn't need to know that... yet. She held the ropes open for me,and when I got in, she gave me a long hug and a kiss. The fans were still cheering for her, and I was silently doing the same. As she posed for a little bit longer, I asked for a mic.

"Seeing Taryn become the Knockouts Champ is an amazing feeling, and I can only hope I win a title when I make my return" I said, and Taryn gave me another hug, before taking the mic I had.

"Of course you will win one. You deserve one, and I know I'm not alone in that thought" she replied, and I gave her a small smile as we left. The next match was Styles vs Drake, and Taryn needed to take a shower. I took that time to get my new gear on. When Styles lost, I was pretty pissed. Styles is the go to guy who can put on a five star match with a damn broom. The Gauntlet match started out with Bully Ray and Mr. Anderson, and as the match progressed, people like Manik, Chris Sabin, Jay Bradley, Hernandez, Abyss, Kazarian made their entrances. I was standing right by the curtain, new gear on, and my new theme getting ready to blare through the speakers. Tonight was going to be my strike back. Tonight, Drake is going to learn that our war of attrition will only end in October.

* * *

**Next part to the Long Climb will be posted after Bound For Glory. Hope you enjoyed the last chapter of The Long Climb. Don't forget to review, and I will see you next on the next part of The Long Climb. I don't own TNA and all that good shit.**


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